


The Lonely Planet

by authorwithoutaquill



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Alien Planet, Angst, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Separations, Whump, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-05-05 18:38:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5386247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authorwithoutaquill/pseuds/authorwithoutaquill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor, Rose and Jack land on a planet called Yolg'izlik. Their intention is to partake in the winter festivities - go on a sleigh ride, have a snowball fight, drink some hot chocolate. It all goes wrong however when a blizzard nearly kills Rose and Jack gets arrested by the local authorities. Team Tardis is taken to the capital, Charhelm, where they soon discover that the tension between the Council and the Revolutionaries might be a bigger threat to their well-being than they first thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Oncoming Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Ficlet Friday on Timepetalsprompts for the theme "separated by a blizzard". It misbehaved and didn't finish where I wanted it to, so there's more chapters coming.

“Doctor!”

He wouldn’t come. He didn’t know she was here; he was too far away, on the other side of the mountain. He wouldn’t get back in time. Rose felt her fingers slipping, giving out slowly as the wind blew her from side to side. She was hanging on an edge of a rock cliff, having run all the way from the village. She couldn’t see a thing in this blasted snow storm, that’s why she fell. At least that’s what she told herself. In reality she was probably too hurt, her mind too clouded to pay attention like the Doctor told her to. She didn’t look where she was running. And now there she was, 600 feet high in the air, hanging onto crumbling, frosty rock for dear life while the blizzard played with her.

“Doctoooor!”

She screamed as one of her hands slipped away from the rock. Tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. She would not cry. If this was how she had to go, then let it be, but by God she wouldn’t cry. Rose tried to swing herself around, to find some footing on the slippery rock wall, but it was useless. Her legs dangled and her fingers ached so much she thought they might break. She had to let go. She couldn’t climb up, there was no one coming, there was nothing else she could do. At least if she let go now it would be her choice and not an act forced upon her by the storm.

She squeezed her eyes shut, took a shuddering breath, and conjured up the Doctor’s image in her mind’s eye - closely cropped dark hair, angel-blue eyes, a slightly hawkish nose, perfectly shaped lips set in a determined albeit not unfriendly line; and two large ears sticking out on either side of his angular face. Sharp cheekbones and pale skin… She smiled and whispered a goodbye than relaxed her fingers and felt herself drop into the darkness below.

Only her descend was halted as a hand grabbed her right arm and yanked her upwards.

“Doctor?”

“Well, I can pretend for you, sweetheart, if you like.”

Rose looked up into Jack’s grinning face and laughed.

“Oh Jack, I’m so happy to see you!”

The man’s grin widened and she hauled her up, laying her down gently in the snow.

“I thought no one would come. I thought I was gonna…” she gulped and finally let the tears stream down her face.

Jack put his arms around Rose and rubbed her arms slowly to get her circulation going again.

“Hush now. Don’t even dare to think such things! We’ll always come for you, me and the Doctor. Doing the impossible is kind of our specialty. You should know that!”

He meant to encourage her, make her feel safe, but instead Rose cried harder. He flinched as he realized his words probably sounded more like scolding. The Doctor was rubbing off on him - he used to be so good with words. Not that Rose couldn’t see through them, but still.

She quietened after a while and lifted her head to look at him with a watery smile.

“I know, Jack. I’m sorry. It hasn’t been my day.”

The girl’s eyes darkened and Jack wondered whether she was thinking about their row with the Doctor from earlier. Ever since the dancing they seemed to be more tense around each other - snapping and arguing about the smallest things. When Jack half-jokingly told the Doctor that maybe they should try the salsa to work off some of the tension - he winked and gestured towards Rose’s bedroom - he almost got punched in the face. He never saw the Doctor that furious before or since. So he kept quiet and rolled his eyes, mostly taking Rose’s side in their arguments. The Doctor could really be quite ruthless when he felt cornered - and he really seemed to feel cornered around Rose. Jack couldn’t quite understand why. It was clear the two of them loved each other, so he wasn’t sure why the Doctor was being so difficult about it. It gave him quite a few sleepless nights.

 

This morning when they landed on this godforsaken planet they’ve been planning to go on a sleigh ride together. “A proper sleigh ride, Rose, not those silly little wooden things you have on Earth.” They ended up in a market half an hour later because Rose was hungry and the Doctor needed to buy some spare parts for the TARDIS. Jack went off to find a dancing partner for later - it really has been too long since they’ve been on a habitable planet - but by the time he could tear himself away from the purple-skinned mechanic (and oh, he was pretty), the Doctor and Rose were glaring daggers at each other, shouting about reindeers and sonic screwdrivers and how: “there will be no Christmas lights on my ship! And setting up a tree in the console room is absolutely out of the question!”

Rose strode off fuming in the direction of the hill that lay beyond the town and the Doctor crossed his arms and timidly refused to look at anything but the ground. Jack tried to get what was wrong out of him, but he just huffed and muttered in Gallifreyan, so he gave up after a while and jogged after Rose. At first he thought she was just hiding in one of the shops, but when he couldn’t find her Jack realized she went _up_ the hill. By that time the first warnings of a blizzard coming were circling around the village and Jack had no time to look for the Doctor if he was going to reach Rose in time.

So off he went, without telling the Doc, hoping that he will be able get to his friend in time. All this for a stupid argument! For all the Doctor’s complaints about how silly humans could be, he could be a royal asshole for a Time Lord too. Jack rolled his eyes, worry gnawing at his insides and swore to tell him that when they got back to the TARDIS. Maybe they’d avoid scenarios like that if someone smacked him with the truth a couple of times.

Now getting back would be a problem. He didn’t even reach the foot of the hill yet when the storm hit and suddenly he was barely able to keep moving, not to mention seeing much further than his nose. But Rose would be out here somewhere and he had to reach her before she froze to death. She was only wearing a thin jacket that would be no use to her in this weather. He struggled, but ploughed on - stumbling and falling, taking longer and longer to get up, but he finally reached the top.

Jack could see nothing but white and hear naught but the insane howling of the wind. He tried shouting Rose’s name, but his voice was carried away by the wind when the words barely even left his lips. He gave up after the fourth try and decided to listen instead. He staggered a few feet towards the other side of the hill and then he heard it. Barely audible high pitched sounds that could have come from Rose. His legs acted on their own will and took him towards the voice, going so fast he barely touched the ground. As he got closer he could finally make out the words. She was shouting for the Doctor. A slight pang of sadness and anger flared up in his chest, but he pushed it back down, filing it for later to be examined thoroughly. Either that or drowned in a bottle of scotch. Jack wasn’t particularly picky when it came to facing his emotions.

He reached for her just in time - she was falling, he was barely able to catch her arm - he had to duck and lay sprawled in the snow. But he got her. Rose was alright.

 

Or almost alright. Seeing her eyes sadden as she was no doubt thinking back to the same events that occupied Jack’s thoughts, he felt that slight pang of anger and sadness take over him again.

“It’s okay, Rosie. I’ve got you now.”

She sniffed and snuggled into his arms, hiding from both the cold and the hurt feelings. Jack sighed at the thought of having to make her get up, but they’d freeze to death up here.

“Come on, sweetie, we have to get going if we don’t want the Doc to amputate our limbs when we get back to the TARDIS.” It was a weak attempt at cheering her up, and he knew it, but Rose still rewarded him with a small smile - which brought his own grin back.

They stood to leave the hilltop when they heard a shout to their left. Jack spun them around and took out the gun he always carried with him (despite the Doctor’s protests). Pointing it at his unknown target he said in a clear voice: “Halt!”

But he was soon grinning again as a man in a battered leather jacket came into view - with a deep frown on his face.

“Doctor!” Rose shouted and practically threw herself at him. The Doctor looked surprised and staggered a little under the sudden weight in his arms, but he was soon smiling too. That is, until he saw Jack’s scowl. He let go of Rose quickly and handed both of them a thick wool coat.

“What about you?” Rose sniffed and hid her face in the fur lining of her newly acquired coat.

“Superior Time Lord physi…”

“Yeah, yeah. Superior Time Lord, that’s you.” Rose cut him off and started walking down the hill.

The Doctor looked at Jack, confused and a little hurt. Truth to be told, the ex-Time Agent would have liked nothing better than to hit him on the head with something heavy, but he just sighed and rolled his eyes instead.

“You know Doc, for all your superior Time Lord DNA, maybe you could take a page out of the _stupid apes’_ book about how to behave in social situations.”

“You think I should apologize.”

“I don’t think, I _know_ you should!”

“But… She was…”

“Doctor,” Jack took him by the shoulder and stared hard into his blue eyes, “do you love this woman?”

The Doctor opened his mouth, then closed it. He repeated this a few times, giving the impression of a grumpy fish who couldn’t decide whether he wanted the spot by the water lilies or the one in the shade. Then his eyes changed as suddenly as a summer storm: he had a deep, desperate glimmer to them that spoke of unspeakable things and held the beauty of the universe, and yet - Jack realized with a start - there was a huge amount of fear in them too.

The Doctor finally nodded and looked at the ground. Jack shook his head, but did not say anymore, releasing the Doctor’s shoulders with a gentle squeeze and a small nod. He didn’t want to examine why the sadness came back to him again, so he just shoved his hands in his pocket and motioned for the Doctor that they should get going.

The two men started walking down the hill side by side, each engrossed in their own thoughts. When they were almost at the bottom, Jack said very quietly, “You know, if you love her this much, you should just tell her you’re sorry. I mean, it’s Rose. Our Rose. She’s going to forgive you if you ask.”

The Doctor looked up at him again, and something told Jack that this is exactly what his friend has been afraid of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was supposed to be a NinexRose story and the Doctor barely showed up, but bare with me, he's gonna get a bigger role in the coming chapter(s). (Besides, Jack rarely gets the spotlight he deserves in Nine fics, so I'm giving him some. He's enjoying it greatly.)


	2. Sweet Tooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Jack's directions the Doctor finally manages to catch up to Rose and invite her out for a hot chocolate. Meanwhile our Captain is off on his own for a bit of exploration in the marketplace of this strange planet. Things do not go entirely as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this story has officially escaped me and thus I cannot be held accountable for what may or may not happen in coming chapters. All I can say is Jack's still enjoying his spot in the limelight enormously and the Doctor and Rose are going to find themselves in a bit of trouble very soon.

After pointing the Doctor in the direction of a cosy chocolate bar, “Come on, Doc, we know both you and Rose have a sweet tooth,” Jack decided to bug off and let the two of them sort out their issues on their own for once. He pulled the military-style coat closer around himself and started jogging towards the marketplace.

If he was lucky his purple skinned mechanic didn’t close shop yet. Well, he could make him do that now; he certainly didn’t seem opposed to some _dancing_ when they last spoke. First Jack had to find him though - which proved to be more difficult than he had first anticipated. When he reached the first few stalls - grey-skinned aliens with metallic looking trunks selling thin little packets that looked suspiciously like mood patches - he heard shouting. It was coming from the other side of the marketplace where the entertainment tents were set up. As he ran towards the source of the cacophony he remembered that roasting people was a form of entertainment on Yolg'izlik. Albeit they only did it to criminals - who were already sentenced to death, according to the planet’s customs - Jack didn’t find it a sufficient excuse for burning people alive.

He quickened his pace as the yelling grew louder and managed to get to the first tents just in time to see one of them go up in flames. He was about to shout for someone to bring him water while he went in to look for survivors when the people around him started to clap. For a moment he could do nothing but gawp and turn his head from side to side as the crowd cheered. But then he saw it too: two Yirelin in their native orange colours were dancing on the top of the tent. The ex-Time Agent broke into a grin and joined in the whooping and cheering.

The Yirelin were a hybrid race - Eneverian lizard and Manganese bat on one side, Salamander and Merlinite crystal on the other. Quite fascinating history, that. Jack didn’t know all the particulars, but the fact that a life form was one-quarter made up of solid rock and could burst into flame at will meant he was definitely going to find out more. One look at the fire-lizards though and he shook his head slightly. Perhaps it was better to leave the explaining to the Doc after all. He wouldn’t want to get a third-degree burn while dancing… Best see if they were compatible first. Still, pretty interesting show.

Jack did wonder how the Yirelin got here in the first place. They were not natives - Yolg'izlik had many strange visitors, but the natives were made up of three distinct species: Madrelans, who looked much like giant purple rose bushes (they were sentient and quite friendly, but the translation took ages and they usually chose to keep to themselves, avoiding towns and most humanoid life forms), the Tethannis who were green and furry (an arachnid race who possessed basic abilities of shapeshifting), and the Cardalians who looked fairly humanoid structure-wise, but had a few extra limbs and no nose (they breathed through gill-like slits on the side of their face and stomachs and had no need for the said orifice).

None of the natives were even close to the fire-lizards, nor to any of its ancestors. And Jack was pretty sure that the Yirelin classified as a highly dangerous (although without malintent) race - which were not allowed into Yolg'izlik. True, it was easy to slip past the guards - all you needed was a permit, and since each species had its own unique seals and documentation it was child’s play faking one. But surely, the fire-lizards were out of place to even the locals.

Jack was still thinking hard about the Yirelin and how they shouldn’t be here when he heard a friendly voice call out, “Captain!”

He turned on his heal and smiled his most charming smile when he realized it was his purple mechanic.

“Well, hello there, Rict. I was just looking for you! Hoped you weren’t too busy and could be convinced to close shop for a while.” He wiggled his eyebrows and laughed affectionately when the mechanic’s cheeks turned to an even darker purple. “Come on, now. You can hold my hand.” He winked and offered said hand to the other man, who took it after a moment’s hesitation.

They walked out of the square, the mechanic slowly relaxing and Jack already enjoying himself enormously. He was just about to launch into a story in which he was running from a four-tusked alien in a somewhat naked state (again), when he felt his legs give out. He dropped to his knees and was about to ask for help when he saw Rict’s face smiling above him. He lifted his hand up to his neck with no small amount of effort and brushed his fingers along the edge of a flat, round object. So they _were_ selling mood patches on the outskirts of the market! Damn the Yirelin for distracting him from investigating those stalls further!

“You… tricked me…” He was slipping away, into sleep or death, he didn’t know, but the edges of his vision were going black. “You… never… wanted… that… dance…”

Jack’s last thought before giving into the darkness was, “How funny, I didn’t even get to tell Rose and the Doctor that the chocolate place sells aphrodisiacs too”.

*****

Where in the name of Rassilon was she? It was a small town, she couldn’t have disappeared. Again. Unless something happened to her. Again. The Doctor quickened his steps, but kept a sharp lookout for anything pink and yellow. Rose Tyler was way too jeopardy-friendly for his liking and he was going to tell her the minute he found her. Or maybe not…

He scowled and increased his pace even more as he remembered how they parted before she ran up the hill. It was a stupid row, really. All ‘cause of domestics, of course. One minute they were chatting happily away about Woman Wept and she was marvelling at its impossible ice formations, the next they were shouting about reindeers and Christmas lights and whatnot.

She wanted to decorate the Tardis. Which she could have done, of course, on her own free will: all her room, the library, the hallways, the bathrooms (as long as it wasn’t his own), hell he didn’t even mind the kitchen, but no; she had to come up with the plan to put a blasted Christmas tree **in the console room** of all places! The console room!

Because, “Doctor, that’s where we are most often. It’s practically where we live. You’re always there, tinkerin’, Jack’s in love with the interface and the chairs are comfy”.

That last part was a lie - the chairs were anything but comfortable and both of them knew it, but it seemed that was the best excuse she could come up with all of a sudden. Which made the Doctor even more angry for some reason. Some reason he was reluctant to admit to even now. He really should just let it go. If Jack could see through him so easily maybe it was time.

He smiled wryly and broke into a jog - it seemed like everybody could see it except Rose. Or she didn’t care. The Doctor didn’t know which answer terrified him more - her being oblivious (in which case he was clearly doing something very _very_ wrong), or her not giving much thought to his predicament. Maybe both scared him equally. Fantastic. Just what he needed in the middle of a blizzard, stuck on Yolg'izlik. Why on earth did he bring them here? Out of all the places they could have come… And he had to choose the Lonely Planet. With a name like that, something was bound to go wrong.

He lost all train of thought as he crashed into something small but solid and fell backwards to the snow-covered ground. He swore in Gallifreyan and was about to ask what the deuce the person on the other side of the street corner was doing when he realized that he managed to run straight into the person he was looking for. For her part, Rose didn’t seem too cheerful about sitting on the cold, wet ground, and even less so when she realized it was the Doctor who knocked her flat on her bum.

“There you are!” He said incredulously. “I was looking all over for you!”

“Yes, well, didn’t take you that long to find me.” She got up, dusting herself off as best she could while keeping her eyes away from the Doctor’s face.

“Yeah, but Rose, I was worried.”

That made her look up. The Doctor flinched when he saw the anger burning in her eyes.

“Serves you right! You can be worried and clueless for once instead of the “stupid little ape” on the ship.”

When he looked suitably chastised and didn’t try to correct or contradict her, the tension in her shoulders eased a bit.

“You can see I’m unhurt, you now know where I am, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go see Jack.”

Apparently they still weren’t on friendly terms. The Doctor sighed and fought not to lose his temper again. He grabbed for her jacket sleeve and stopped her in her tracks just as she was passing him.

“What?”

“Rose, look, I’m sorry.” She stopped trying to yank her arm away. “I behaved like a moron and clearly upset you enough that you felt the need to brave a blizzard and ended up in danger. Because of me. I’m sorry I put you through this.”

He let go of her sleeve and ran his hand through his closely cropped hair. Rose focused intently on his face, seeming to study every flicker of his expression, no doubt looking for truthfulness. Better do this the hard way then.

The Doctor looked her straight in the eye and said, “There are things I want to talk to you about. Important things. Things I’m not necessarily good at. Things that…” He gulped and looked down again for a moment, “that I need help with.”

In that moment he looked so much like a frightened child - blue eyes wide and pleading, hands spread out at his sides, lips forming words that weren’t coming - that Rose decided to keep her anger for another time and place. She shook her head slightly, crossed the distance between them in three measured steps and hugged the Doctor tight.

After a moment his breath whooshed out of him and he attempted a shaky laugh, putting his arms around her shoulders and waist. Both of them took great comfort in the embrace and stayed like that for quite a while. The sun was on its way down and the skies were clearing as the snowstorm retreated by the time they released each other.

The Doctor had a strange look in his eyes, one Rose weren’t quite sure she’d seen before and couldn’t decide what to make of it. After a moment of silence heavy with unspoken things, he asked in a hopeful voice, “So… There’s this chocolate place we could go to.”

The boyish awkwardness was back and Rose couldn’t help her grin spreading across her face, her tongue slipping between her teeth as the Doctor swung his arms a little.

“I mean… only if you want…” he was stammering now, “but we could… you know… talk. There.” His voice seemed to give out and the last words were barely more than a whisper, “About things…”

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in a mock-thoughtful way. Then her brilliant smile was back and it blinded the Doctor completely.

“I’d love to.” She took his hand and his hearts sang from the joy of it. “In case you haven’t noticed, Doctor,” her tone was teasing now, back to the Rose Tyler she was a few weeks ago, with just the two of them, aboard the Tardis, “I have a sweet tooth.”

Grinning, they started walking towards the chocolate shop, their entwined hands swinging between them, a spring back in their steps, and the happiness audible in their voices.


	3. Something's Gotta Give

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose finally have their talk - even if neither of them dares to admit to their feelings fully. They manage to procure some hot chocolate and enjoy a nice walk around town, but trouble is brewing in the marketplace. The appearance of the Tardis and an old friend puts an end to their night out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are - this is officially looking like a long story from here onward. They just carried on despite me shouting stop. Oh well, it's happening now. I cannot promise a regular update schedule, although I'll try to have no more than 2 weeks between chapters.

The place was absolutely crowded - positively heaving with people shouting over each other, people shoving their tongues down each other’s throat, dancing, and drunken couples, bored, or alternatively panicking waitresses. When they stepped inside both the Doctor and Rose froze for a minute, taking in the scene with wide-eyed shock. Then Rose grinned up at the Doctor and asked in a mischievous tone, “Jack picked the place?”

The Doctor groaned and covered his face with one hand. Rose had to fight the urge to laugh out loud and turned her head to one side so he couldn’t see the amusement in her eyes. She half expected the Doctor to flee and retreat back into his shell. He probably would have done exactly that, had she given him a chance. But Rose Tyler wasn’t going to back down - the Doctor promised her a conversation, and a conversation they were going to have. About what, she couldn’t guess, but it seemed important enough to battle the crowd and try one of the place’s specialties.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the counter at the front of the bar. A glowing-yellow girl with purple hair and several tentacles in place of arms greeted them with a nod.

“Erm… Hello there! Me an’ my friend would like to try out…” Rose glanced up, skimming over the menu and landed on a pink drawing of rose petals inside a porcelain cup filled with dark liquid, “Xoco… Xocotzin’s milk. Yeah, that’s it. Two of those, please.”

The Doctor could have probably told her that it wasn’t such a good idea ordering the special, but he was hardly paying any attention to Rose or the bartender, his eyes fixed on a particularly passionate couple groping each other beside the aquarium. The tips of his ears were turning red and he timidly put his hands in his pocket, lest Rose try to hold them again.

He only grunted in response to Rose’s “Let’s find a place to sit, shall we?” and didn’t look at her again until they were seated in a dimly-lit corner on the second level of the establishment.

When he did look up at her he immediately regretted it: the candle-light made her eyes sparkle with a light that he wasn’t sure he could endure, painted her hair golden, and her cheeks pink, and her smile soft and endearing. He wouldn’t be able to get a single word of what he wanted to say out at this rate.

So he chose to focus on his hands instead, watching the shadow-play on white skin, trying to untangle his thoughts enough to start speaking. Rose beat him to it.

“So. You… wanted to talk?”

She tried to catch his eyes and a sudden panic overwhelmed him - he couldn’t do this. She was just going to laugh and request to be taken home after their trip. Worse yet, they might go and have a good laugh about it with Jack; the two of them seemed to get along awfully well lately. This was never going to work… She didn’t…

Before he registered what was happening he was on his feet and charging downstairs. He heard Rose call his name behind him, but he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop. This was a very bad idea. He’d tell Jack…

Oh, he wouldn’t tell Jack anything. He just needed a bit of air and then he was going to go back and get it over with.

The night air was freezing on his exposed skin, since he was still only wearing his leather jacket, but he was grateful for the distraction. Rose would appear in a few moments in the doorway, no doubt, and he needed to gather his thoughts before that. The idea of telling her how he felt still seemed like a horribly bad one. Especially here, in the crowded chocolate bar.

Curse Jack and his ideas. What on earth was he trying to accomplish with sending them there in the first place? Did the Time Agent really think he could talk to Rose here? It was hard enough to get the words out when they were by themselves on the Tardis - he had no chance of doing it here!

But they had to move forward, he had to do something, say something, otherwise this was never going to work. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Maybe if they took it slow…

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do you want to stand there and freeze instead?”

He smiled as Rose’s voice drifted to him through the chill air, but didn’t turn. This gave him an idea though.

“Are you very cold?” he asked.

“No, not really. Why?”

“We could… I don’t know. Bring our drinks outside and have a walk instead?”

He finally turned towards her and was relieved to see that her expression wasn’t angry - merely confused and a little unsure.

“Erm… yeah. Why not? I’ll just… go and pay then?”

He nodded gratefully and rubbed his palms together; not because he was particularly cold - his body could withstand the weather much better than either Rose’s or Jack’s could - but he had nothing better to do.

He still had no idea what to say or even where to start, and he was painfully aware of how little time he had left before he had to start talking. Ironic really: a Time Lord running out of time. He had a sudden, overwhelming urge to run back to the Tardis and just leave - as he always did when things got too complicated, too… domestic - but he stayed put. He couldn’t run away from this anymore, and no matter how out of practice he was, they had to have that talk.

“There you go.”

Rose handed him his own drink, packed neatly in a blue cup-holder made out of paper, surrounded by tiny rose-petal shaped cookies. He fussed with it much more than entirely necessary before looking up at her face again. She seemed to be in a much better mood - a smile was playing at the corner of her mouth, her eyes were gleaming and the spring in her step told him she was definitely interested in what he was going to say, but she also wouldn’t pressure him to talk. He smiled and murmured a thanks to whatever deities might’ve been listening.

They walked in silence for a long while, heading automatically towards the marketplace, their pace languid and relaxed, even though the muscles in the Doctor’s chest were still as tightly wound as a spring. They sipped their drinks occasionally, but he didn’t pay any attention to its taste or properties at all. There was a faint flowery pang to it, but he didn’t find it particularly important at the moment, and couldn’t make his brain care to analyse the flavour.

The Doctor didn’t notice when he switched to using his respiratory bypass, so it took him by surprise when Rose nudged him and said, “You sure you’re alright, Doctor? You’re not breathing.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head, “Respiratory bypass system. I’m okay, Rose. Could go much longer without breathing, me.”

“I know that, it’s just… you don’t usually stop breathing on slow walks in the middle of a lukewarm winter night, do you?”

He smiled and finally looked into her eyes. They were shining oh so bright, and there was no flicker of annoyance or anger in them anymore. Just questions and maybe some answers - but they were buried too deep and the Doctor knew it wouldn’t be fair to dig for them. So he sighed and started talking instead.

“Rose, this isn’t easy for me.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, you know,” she cut in. “Just… I sometimes think I know where we are… and then you put me out of balance again. And I have no idea what’s what anymore and…” she huffed and blinked rapidly, squeezing her cup a little, “I just want to know what this is.”

She looked helplessly into his eyes and continued when he didn’t say anything.

“Us. What are we? Where are we going? Just… What’s happening? Is there even an us?”

She motioned between them, but stared straight ahead.

“I mean I know I’m your companion and I do help out sometimes, even if I’m more trouble than worth…”

He opened his mouth to deny that statement, but she wasn’t paying attention to him.

“But I like to think I’m also your friend. I care about you, you know. A lot actually. And I’m not sure you understand sometimes.”

She still wouldn’t look in his direction and this time it was the Doctor who tried to catch her eyes in vain.

“And then there other times… When I think you do know. And when… well, when we danced, for example… When Jack got on board… And…”

She was slowly stopping; both her words and her feet stilled and she turned away from him, still blinking rapidly and he realized only now - daft alien he was - that Rose was trying to keep herself from crying.

The Doctor went to her and put his arms around her waist, resting his head on top of hers. They both took a gulp of their drinks before he said quietly, “Companion isn’t a degrading term, Rose. At least it shouldn’t be. It does not mean “stupid little ape who I carry with me because I don’t care for travelling alone.”

She made a muffled sound that might have been “I know”.

“It means you’re my equal. Someone I asked to come with me, someone I need just as much as they need me - and sometimes more, since it’s very rare anyone stays, yet I have to keep going.”

She turned slightly in his embrace and burrowed her nose in the crook of his neck.

“It’s just the easiest term for me to refer to you. You’re a friend, absolutely - the best of friends - but you’re also much more. A friend can be someone I meet once, who helps me with a gravity satellite so we both get out alive. A friend can be someone I only speak to, but never meet face-to-face. It can be someone I leave behind and don’t feel bad about it - someone I can think back to with a smile and no tears. A companion… A companion is different.”

She was silent, waiting for him to continue, but he suddenly ran out of breath and there was an uncomfortable squeezing feeling inside his chest and his arms hugged her tighter on their own accord and tears were stinging his eyes and he couldn’t get the words out.

She beat him to it, as usual - her voice soft and her words quiet, “I’m not gonna leave, you know. If that’s what you’re afraid of, I’m not gonna leave.”

His hearts throbbed with joy at her words and he was afraid for a moment they’d leap out of his chest. He took a ragged breath and kissed the side of her face, pulling her to him, inhaling her scent and finding peace in the fact that it was Rose - his Rose - staying in his arms, finding solace in his nearness just as much as he was finding it in hers.

“Yeah, that’s one of the things I’m afraid of.”

“Well, I’m not going to go. I’m going to stay with you.”

He leaned back to be able to look into her eyes and asked in a broken voice, “For how long, then?”

She smiled widely and shook her head, “Forever, Doctor. I’m going to stay with you forever.”

He laughed then - a true, joyous, crystalline laugh - and picked her up, spun them around and she couldn’t help but giggle with him.

“Oh, Rose Tyler…You are truly the most fantastic human being I’ve ever met!”

She stuck her tongue out between her teeth and grinned at him - he didn’t let go of her hands. His eyes were pools of blue light, melting her, turning her legs into jelly and her lips parted of their own accord, her gaze flicking down to his lips. He ran his tongue over them nervously before enveloping her in an embrace once again, head leaning towards hers, nose brushing along her jawline and she whimpered. He rewarded her with a small smile before closing his eyes and coming even closer. Rose’s eyelids fluttered shut and her stomach was in knots from the anticipation, from the wait for his lips to meet hers, when a sharp cry rang out from the direction of the market place.

Their eyes snapped open and the Doctor pushed Rose behind him in a swift motion before crouching down and motioning for her to hide behind the low bushes on the side of the path.

When they were both out of sight, lying flat on their stomach below the strange purple plants he whispered to her, “Do you know where Jack went?”

“No, I haven’t seen him since we got back.”

The Doctor scowled and tried to make out what the figures standing in the square were saying but they were too far away. There were only 5 of them, talking in low voices, so neither him nor Rose heard anything useful. There were others coming however. Lots of others.

In the course of just five minutes the square filled with people of all sizes and shapes - there were some of the lizard people present, quite a number of the Tethannis, and a dozen or so Cardalians, along with a couple of off-world species thrown into the mix. There was a great deal of shouting, but none of it loud enough to understand the individual words.

Rose was about to suggest they go and find another hiding place closer to the square when the crowd parted and something large and very blue was rolled into their midst. The presence of the Tardis clearly angered the crowd as they started yelling again - with the Doctor now being able to catch a few curse-words - and picking up various objects to throw at it. When one of the Yirelin burst into flames and threw himself at the Police Box the Doctor swore and tried to jump up, only to be restrained by Rose. He scowled at her and was about to argue when she pointed into the direction of the marketplace’s entrance, at the far side of the square, where the crowd was the thinnest.

Something else was brought forward as well. Their line of vision was blocked by both the gathering mob and the thick-leaved plants, but it looked suspiciously like a human. A human in a military-style coat, with a mop of dark brown hair and a rather handsome face. A human who was decidedly unconscious and thus completely helpless against the angry crowd. A human both Rose and the Doctor knew very well.

“Jack!” They cried at the same time, scrambling to their feet, and started running towards him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was mostly about the Doctor and Rose, but Jack is still going to get the attention he deserves and I plan to have him in a much bigger role later. (He was complaining, yes.) Also, just a hint - look out for those hot chocolates, we'll come back to those at some point. 
> 
> If you enjoy the story, please be kind enough to leave a comment or a kudo. Thank you!


	4. Into The Cell We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor attempt to save Jack, but run into more trouble than they bargained for. It turns out the Lonely Planet is a bit more dangerous than they expected. Rose also gets caught up on the color of police uniforms, while the crowd assaults the Tardis and Jack refuses to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I struggled with this chapter quite a bit until it started to behave. It would be super helpful if you could tell me how it turned out. Also, many thanks to all the people who let me know they like this story - your support means a lot. 
> 
> All the rainbows and roses for my newfound beta: the wonderful Perfectlyrose who was kind enough to look over this chapter and make sure I didn't commit anything overly stupid in the course of writing it. Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!

The crowd was the thickest in front of the Tardis - people moving in throngs, waves of colours washing over each other, shouts rising to deafening volume. This fact made it very difficult for the Doctor and Rose to get through, especially since a group of Tethannis were now heading towards the cart on top of which Jack was thrown across. Their friend’s head lolled to and fro as four Cardalians in mauve uniforms pushed the vehicle forward. Or rather tried to, for it was a considerably difficult feat to accomplish through the crowd of onlookers.

Most didn’t understand what was going on, but the few Tethannis who comprehended the purpose of the strange vehicle were using flamethrowers they got from the festival earlier to try and light up the cart, along with the four Cardalians still behind it. Maybe they were just having fun, since they didn’t seem to have any reason for the attack, but Rose found the proximity of the flames to Jack alarming nonetheless. When they finally managed to wriggle through the crowd, the green spider-like beings were already lighting up the woodwork on the vehicle.

“What are they doing?” shouted Rose over the cacophony that was now spreading beyond the square, swiftly spilling into the marketplace and the village streets.

“What do you think? They’re trying to put fire to Jack!”

Rose rolled her eyes and tried to keep up, but it was bloody difficult when the Doctor was running at this pace.

“I can see that! I meant what are the aliens in the uniform doing behind the cart?”

“Oh, those? Well, they’re wearing mauve, Rose. Mauve. Remember what I told you about mauve?”

“Erm… Universally recognized colour for danger?” she replied uncertainly.

“Yep. And also the colour of police uniforms on most planets in this corner of the universe.”

“Police uniforms? Doesn’t that go against the theory that it’s a colour for danger?”

“No. You see, the uniform is a way to give them some authority. Bit of backward times, really. But they think on Yolg'izlik that to frighten someone equals to having your authority recognized.”

“But doesn’t that undermine the whole respect thing? I mean policemen are not that hard to come by on a daily basis. If everyone gets used to the mauve, doesn’t it destroy the whole idea of it being dangerous?”

They stopped to catch their breaths, Rose bending over, taking large gasps of air and trying to stop herself from collapsing. Blimey, she was out of shape!

“Yeah, it does. But when the government came up with it, back in the early days of the planet, it seemed to work, so they’ve kept it.”

“Sounds a lot like Earth to me.”

“Politics is the same everywhere,” the Doctor huffed and took off again.

Rose sighed and broke into a run.

By the time they reached Jack, his hair was singed and his cheeks were turning red from the heat. Thankfully the Cardalian policemen and the Tethannis were busy fighting each other, so all the Doctor and Rose had to do was get the ex-Time Agent off the vehicle and drag him out of the way.

“Jack? Jack, wake up! Jack, are you okay?” Rose was shaking her friend, trying to elicit a reaction while the Doctor checked for injuries.

“He’ll be fine. They used a mood patch on him to put him to sleep, but caused no serious harm.”

“Mood patches?”

“Yeah. Little cellophane patches that release chemicals into your bloodstream to induce an emotion or physical state. There’s all sorts of drugs with different effects. Mind, I thought they were illegal everywhere by now. Maybe not, if the police are using it. We’d better check on that, once we get out of here.”

Rose nodded absent-mindedly, but did not take her eyes off Jack. He looked so helpless, lying there on the ground. She reached out and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

“So he’s just sleepin’, yeah?” she whispered.

The Doctor turned around and tried to push down the feeling of jealousy at the sight of Rose cradling Jack’s head in her arms, concentrating instead on the shouting crowd and the purple smoke rising from the remains of the cart.

“Yes, he’s only asleep, but he’ll be out for a while longer and we need to move.”

He looked around, spotting some greenish-grey off-world aliens trying to open the Tardis doors by tying explosives to the top of the police box. He winced and turned back to Rose.

“Do you think you can carry his legs? We need to get out of here, and fast.”

She stood up, and was already tugging on Jack’s feet by the time the Doctor joined her. They were about to lift him up and make their way around the edge of the square and into the marketplace when something sharp jabbed Rose’s right side.

She dropped Jack’s feet with a cry and spun around, finding herself eye to eye with a yellow, pointed stick.

“Lower yourself slowly to the ground, with your back to the pavement. Raise all your limbs to the sky and stay still while we secure you. You are allowed to vocalize; however making any motion after lying down will result in the use of the Oblivion chemical compound.”

Rose tried to catch the Doctor’s eye, but she had her back to him and the Cardalian policeman holding her in place didn’t seem to be in a generous mood. She did as she was told while the Doctor argued with the cops.

“The use of mood patches is prohibited under Section C of Article 97 of the Shadow Proclamation. You’ve no right to use them on off-world travellers.”

“Incorrect. The use of mood patches is illegal in the Central Circle of the galaxy. Under Clause 1023 it is permitted to use chemical alteration of the blood as a method of self-defence on Prison Planets.”

The Cardalian guarding Rose was putting strange reddish-orange bindings on her wrists and ankles, much like the chains they used on slaves on 18th century Earth, only it seemed to be connected by a shimmering light instead of rusty metal. Having three pair of limbs were an advantage, Rose guessed, but it didn’t endear the alien to her at all.

“Yeah, but Yolg'izlik isn’t a Prison Planet, and this is an arrest, not an act of self-defence. So how about you release us and I take this up with your superiors?” the Doctor carried on.

“Negative. The Lonely Planet got Level 7 clearance when Tarrakus came to power. All the laws of the Prison Planets apply here.”

By this time the Doctor was tied up too, with a yellowish-green substance much like the one that circled Rose’s arms and legs. She wondered what exactly the strange goo was, but didn’t have time to ask as she was prodded by one of the Cardalians and shoved roughly in the direction of the marketplace.

“Ouch. Look out, you big brute! No need to push me. I can walk just fine on my own.”

“Leave her alone,” the Doctor was much more reluctant to follow the orders of the Cardalians, struggling as they pushed him towards the marketplace entrance. When he finally realized their captors weren’t going to listen, he decided to stay still and change his tone, “Okay, so you’ve got clearance for the mood patches. That still doesn’t change the fact that you’re arresting us, not defending yourself.”

“Inco…”

“Incorrect, is it? Why’s that then? We didn’t do anything against the law, so we’re not criminals. We’re off-world tourists which means we were let in by the police on the border.”

This last one was a blatant lie since they all arrived into the middle of the village, not having to go through customs and the would-be obligatory police check. But the Doctor was fairly sure the Cardalians had no idea about what the Tardis was, how it could be used, or indeed that it belonged to him.

“So how does that constitute as self-defence?”

“You are the associates of a law-breaker. You have tried to resist the lawful arrest of said criminal. You have committed acts punished by the government of Yolg’izlik. You are to be taken to prison and held there until the High Council decides what fate should befall you. Succeeding in performing said acts makes you dangerous. Therefore all acts performed by the Cardalian police constitutes as self-defence.”

The Doctor was ready to argue more, but there was a loud explosion to their right - a few Yirelin had burst into flames again, but missed their target and set fire to a wooden stall instead of the Tardis. As it turned out the stall held fireworks and the flames has set them off. Everything dissolved into chaos and the Doctor decided he’d better just keep his eyes on Rose for now.

She seemed worried and kept looking back to Jack’s motionless form, carried by two of the less-injured Cardalians; only glancing at the Doctor once or twice for confirmation that their friend would be alright. He nodded at her, trying to reassure her silently, but had trouble hiding his own anxiety. Unless they used some altered form of the patches on the Lonely Planet, Jack should have woken up by now. He was also worried about the Tardis - he knew the mob couldn’t harm her, but it was hard to walk by while the crowd assaulted the doors and tried to paint over the police signs on the front. Anger rose in his chest and he had to force himself not to try something foolish, to stay calm and follow Rose and their captors. He sighed and closed his eyes briefly, trying to get a hold of his emotions.

The Cardalians shoved them onto a cart similar to the one they used to carry Jack, only it was much bigger and able to hold all seven of them. It was a silent ride to Alfalfa Prison, with the Doctor and Rose exchanging worried glances every now and then, but not daring to talk, waiting for Jack to wake up.

*******

“So what now?”

Rose was sitting on the narrow metal bed, chewing her nails and tracing the Doctor’s steps around the small cell with her eyes.

“Well, we’ll have to wait until they come for us and either make a break for it, or better yet, get one of the Council members to talk to us.”

“What is the Council then?”

“A form of government they have here. The High Council decides about pretty much everything, with the Lower Chambers and the Middle Ground supposedly acting on behalf the people. It’s all rotten, of course. Everyone in the lower levels of the Council is only interested in climbing higher. So nothing ever gets done and the justice system suffers for it.”

It was hard to miss the venom dripping from the Doctor’s words and the obvious disgust on his face. His eyes were flashing dangerously and although Rose was very much beyond the point where the Doctor could scare her, she didn’t like it when he was in Oncoming Storm mode. That’s when he got reckless and guilt-ridden, and it was times like this she was unsure whether he'd listen to her when she told him to stop.

She shivered a bit, both from the cold and her unpleasant thoughts and quickly changed the subject.

“So, why is it called Alfalfa Prison? Funny name, that. Does Yol… Yolgoz… what’sitsname have Earth roots? Was it a human colony? Or do we just eat alfalfa for our meals?”

To her surprise, the Doctor, for once, couldn’t give an immediate answer.

“I don’t know. We’re slightly outside human time progression here. Very far out, it’s difficult to tell. The Earth is young right now - would be probably around 900-1200 AD in Earth time. So you didn’t come here before, that’s for sure. Whether you came here after, I do not know. I’ve only been here once, and avoided the capital where there are probably records of the planet’s history. I’m not very fond of Councils…”

“O-kay… You’re not really making sense though. What do you mean you don’t know whether we came here after? How could we come here after 1200 AD? We don’t know how to travel in time. And if it’s around 1000 AD now on Earth…”

“Time’s relative Rose. It’s not linear, like you humans perceive it. It’s more like an ocean. Coming and going in waves, flowing in all directions at once, underwater currents holding you in their iron fists if you’re not careful. There are rifts, there are cracks, there’re jumps, and it is very difficult to calculate how time would pass when you make such a long journey in a primitive space ship. The humans could have set out for Yolg’izlik in the 51st century and ended up here when Earth was still in its infancy. You’ve still got a long way to come and when you finally start to travel in space, you’ll still have no idea about time.”

The Doctor was so absorbed in his own doubts as to the origins of the planet that he only noticed something was wrong when he heard Rose’s gasp. He whipped his head around and was at her side in an instant.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

She was leaning against him quite heavily - he checked her temperature, which seemed to be fairly normal, then her pulse, which was entirely too rapid and weak.

“I… I don’t know. ‘Tis nothing. I’m just a little dizzy is all.”

The Doctor scowled and looked at her face next. Her pupils were dilated and her skin was as pale as if it had been freshly plastered. He cursed and pushed her back on the bed carefully.

“Did you feel it before? Rose, this is very important. You have to tell me if there was anything strange you’ve felt before we came to the prison.”

She seemed to think for a moment, rolling her eyes a bit and trying to smile at him, but failing miserably at it.

“I’m sure it’s okay, Doctor. I’m just a bit out of shape is all.”

“Rose, please. You need to think!”

She huffed and was about to retort when her eyes widened and a little whimper escaped her. She clutched at her stomach and doubled over.

“Rose? Rose! What is it? Tell me!”

“It’s… it’s…” she was gasping for air by now, forcing the words out through clenched teeth, beads of perspiration clearly visible on her forehead. “Oh, it hurts,” she moaned.

“It’s gonna be okay, Rose, I promise. Just tell me exactly what you feel and whether anything felt off before.”

She was trembling slightly, clutching the Doctor’s hand and it was all he could do not run to the door and demand to be released right now. Taking large gasps of air, she seemed to calm a little and started to talk in a shaky voice.

“My stomach feels like it wants to come up through my throat. It’s churning and cramping. And my head’s swimming. I can’t see…”

A few tears rolled down her cheek and the Doctor held her in a tight embrace, rocking her back and forth, trying to calm her a bit.

“Shhh, it’s gonna be alright Rose. I promise it’s gonna be fine.”

She buried her head in the crook of his neck and mumbled something the Doctor didn’t catch.

“What’s that?”

She lifted her head a little and repeated her previous words, “I said, I remember feeling a bit weak and out of breath before, in the square, but we were running like mad and I just thought I was a bit out of shape.”

“So it didn’t start now. And I seem to be fine, so it wasn’t the Cardalians who gave us something…”

Although now that the Doctor thought about it, he could feel a slight pressure in his head, getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute, but he didn’t want to worry Rose. He had more important things to do than take care of a little headache.

“Let me think…”

Rose’s moan and the newly returned trembling kicked the Doctor’s brain into gear and he quickly arrived to the conclusion that it had to be some sort of substance she’d ingested.

“What did you eat today?”

“What did I… What?”

Her eyes were shining and quickly becoming cloudy with a fever. He tried to keep her awake, lifting her into a more vertical position, not letting her lie back on the bench fully, at the same time trying to make her as comfortable as he could manage under the circumstances. He hooked his arm under her head, laying her half across his chest and tugging on her legs so they didn’t fall of the bed.

“What did you eat?”

“Oh. Nothing much. I think I last ate in the Tardis.”

The Doctor cursed once again, and swore to take better care of Rose from then on. It had been almost 24 hours since they were last in the Tardis, since she had last gotten food.

“Alright. What was the last thing you…” the Doctor paled and finished flatly, “drank.”

“Rose, I think the hot chocolate we ordered might have done this to you.”

“The hot chocolate?” Her cheeks were red and he could see the veins in her neck bulging out a little, while the rest of her body was as cold as an iceberg. She did manage to scowl at him though. “But that was just hot chocolate.”

“Yes, but we don’t actually know what was in it. There could be components that aren’t harmful for other species, but are deadly to humans. Oh, Rose, this is all my fault! I should have paid more attention, shouldn’t have been so damn distracted…”

“Nah. ‘Tisn’t your fault, Doctor. Just… let me… sleep…” Her eyelids fluttered shut and the Doctor realized with a surge of panic that she was slipping away. Slipping into oblivion and there was nothing he could do.

“Rose? Rose! Don’t do that, now. You’ve gotta wake up! Rose!”

He was shaking her, none-too-gently rocking her frame to and for, and he knew he should take more care with her, but he was beyond reason. When, after a few minutes she was still out cold, he started thumping on the metal door, shouting for whoever could hear him to let them out, that his companion needed help, that they couldn’t just leave them here.

Half an hour and some bloody nails later from scratching on the metal, the door finally opened. By that time his head was pounding too, his vision blurring, his stomach churning like it wanted to exit his body, and the Doctor knew there was something seriously wrong with him too. But he didn’t care, didn’t give a damn about himself when Rose Tyler was in peril.

“My companion,” he gasped and pointed to the bench in the corner of the small cell. “She’s… sick. You’ve gotta… gotta help her.”

He slid down to the floor and was squinting; trying to make out the faces of the guards in the dark, but it was very difficult with the room spinning faster and faster. He couldn’t even see their uniforms clearly.

He did register the guards picking up Rose silently and heading towards the exit.

“Wait, where are you going? Where are you taking her? She needs medical care. If I could just take her back to my… to my…”

His hands were slipping on the door handle and all it took was a good kick from one of the guards to land him on the floor. The room was still spinning and even though he tried to grab for one of his captor’s legs, he knew he’d never manage. As the cell door banged shut, he struggled to make sense of the directions and reach the bunk bed, but couldn’t move. As the darkness claimed him, his last thought was her name and how in the name of Rassilon he could screw this up so badly. They were going to go on a sleigh ride and ended up in prison instead. He smiled ruefully. Funny how that kept happening to him.

_Rose, I’m so sorry…_

There was a sound of footsteps outside. The sound of heavy boots. And a key turning in the lock…

But maybe he imagined it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack got left out of the spotlight a bit, but never fear, he is returning soon. The Doctor and Rose are also separated, and will be for the next few chapters, but they shall eventually reunite. 
> 
> This fic is turning into a full-fledged multi-chapter and for once I actually do know where I'm going with it. Roughly. So I'll try my best and keep up with the fortnightly updates. 
> 
> Until then, it would be lovely if you could leave a comment/kudo to let me know what you thought.


	5. Tea, anyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Rose find themselves in the company of a very strange man, who has too many questions and a great deal of arrogance. He seems reluctant to solve Rose's predicament. Jack plays Doctor. The Doctor plays patient. All in all, everything's turned upside down on the Lonely Planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologizes for the late update - I know it's been almost a month since the last one. Unfortunately I cannot promise better regularity in the future since I am starting uni in less than a week. Therefore I will be very busy and will have much less time to write. I am NOT abandoning this story under any circumstances, it might just take longer for me to turn out chapter. Thanks for understanding.

Rose felt cold fingers on her neck, pulling her slowly upwards, tilting her head gently. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant sensation, but not knowing where she was hindered her enjoyment of the situation somewhat. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes wouldn’t open. It sent her into a panicked flurry of motion, hitting, biting, scratching, and kicking, doing whatever she could to preserve her freedom.

“Ow. Ouch. Okay, Rose, calm down. Calm down!” She felt steady hands push her back towards the surface she was lying on, and fought even harder.

“Ouch. Stop it! Rosie, it’s me! Jack!”

She stopped struggling and turned her head to the left, where the voice was coming from.

“How do I know you’re there? Last I’ve seen of you, you were unconscious, and in police custody.”

“Yeah, about that… I have no idea what I’ve done this time to get arrested. It was completely unreasonable!”

Rose felt the couch shift next to her and realized Jack - or whoever was pretending to be him - must have sat down. She moved slightly to her right and was ready to spring up and make a run for it when he spoke again.

“What happened with your eyes? Can you open them at all? They look a bit… how do I put it? Purple? Swollen? Slightly unnerving?”

Well, that would explain why she couldn’t open them… Still, she wasn’t ready to trust him yet.

“No, really, how do I know you’re Jack? I can’t see, and you’re not actually explaining anything, so… Give me some proof!”

“Oh, the Doctor taught you well, didn’t he, Rosie? Proof. Okay. What proof? Other than my signature massage, I don’t know how I could identify myself.”

Rose allowed herself a half smile and shook her head. It definitely sounded like Jack. She could practically see his grin when he mentioned the word ‘massage’.

“No thanks, I’m not really in the mood to get naked right now.”

“Shame. Ouch!” he cried as Rose smacked him with a pillow.

“Alright, you wanted explanations and I’ll give you as much as I can. I don’t know a lot either; I only woke up a couple of hours before you.”

Rose accepted a glass of water, but made a show of sniffing it before taking a sip, to Jack’s great amusement.

“I’m hardly gonna poison you! Alright, alright,” he said as Rose opened her mouth to argue, “I know. You don’t actually know if it’s me.”

It was his turn to be cut off as she finally cracked a smile and bumped his shoulder. “Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s you since you made the massage comment. And I’m glad you’re here.”

Jack put an arm around her and pulled her into an embrace, both of them turning in their seats to get closer to each other. Rose realized with a sniffle that quickly turned into a sob that Jack was beginning to mean much more to her than she’d previously realized. Best friend, the eternal third wheel on the Tardis (to both his amusement and frustration), Time Traveller, confidant… But now she couldn’t help but feel like there was more to it. She felt like they were connected in some deeper, more significant way. It left her buzzing with anxiety and expectations and she extracted herself from his embrace quickly.

“So then. Tell me how we got here. Where are we anyway? And are you okay? What did they do to us?”

“Woah, slow down. One thing at a time.”

Rose felt the couch shift again and startled a bit when Jack covered her in a blanket. She turned around and leaned back against his chest, taking comfort in his nearness. He put his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head, carrying on, “We’re in a very fancy hotel, as far as I can tell. Most probably not in the same town we arrived in - we’re up quite a few stories and most houses we’ve seen there had been two stories max.”

“Wait, so we’ve left the village?”

“It seems so. Can’t be sure. No one’s come into the room yet and the doors are locked, the windows can’t be opened from the inside. I can’t see any control panels and even if we could shatter the glass, it’s a 50 foot drop to the ground. I wouldn’t risk it.”

“Okay, so we’re locked into a room, and have no idea where we areor who took us here.”

“Pretty much, yeah. What I do know is that we’ve been to a hospital at some point. There’s a couple of sheets detailing the medication we were given and the doctor’s names that saw us. Apparently I was declared to be in completely good health and released - look, they even got my signature. I don’t know how, since as far as I can tell I haven’t been conscious since leaving the market.” Rose felt the couch shift as he sprang up and heard the rustling of papers. She smiled shrewdly as Jack strode back to her.

“Oh, right, you can’t see. On your medical record it says that you were poisoned, but treated accordingly to standard procedure. They don’t mention your eyes at all, but on the bottom there’s a question mark. Maybe they haven’t treated humans before?”

“Lovely. So we don’t actually know what is wrong with my eyes or how to fix it. We’ve been to hospital and then dumped into a locked room for god knows how long. We have no idea who our captors are or what they want with us. And let me guess - you have no idea where the Doctor is.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Rose could hear Jack walking back to her slowly, sighing as he sat down and took her hand.

“I tried to avoid the topic for as long as I could, but you noticed it straightaway, didn’t you? No, the Doctor isn’t here, hadn’t been here at all as far as I can tell. I have no idea where he is. But as soon as they open that damn door, we’re going to find out. I promise we’ll find him, Rose.”

She laid her head on Jack’s shoulder and sighed. “If he doesn’t find us first.”

They were silent for a few minutes, absorbed in their own thoughts. Jack was rubbing her shoulders gently, rocking Rose back and forth, trying to calm himself as much as her. If there was anything they weren’t good at, it was sitting still and waiting.

“Do they hurt?” he spoke up after a while.

“Wha’?”

“Do they hurt? Your eyes?”

“Oh. No, not really. They just feel… sort of sticky. But it’s not painful.”

Not having anything else to say, and unable to do much, Rose leaned back on the couch. Jack snuggled up to her and they listened to each other’s breathing, falling asleep slowly, secure in the knowledge that they had each other.

**********

The Doctor groaned and tried to block out the sharp white light that was blinding him. Not a nice way to wake up - unable to see anything. He heard muffled voices from somewhere beyond the sea of white, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Where am I?” his own voice was raw and weak, as if he’d been screaming for hours. He didn’t remember anything. No, wait. A cell. They were in a cell with Rose. She was… she wasn’t well. They took her away and then…

He tried to jump up, but realized he was tied down. Giving a bit more attention to the surface underneath him, he concluded it was a metal table and his wrists and ankles were held by chains. Not good. Not good at all.

He strained against his bindings and asked again, slightly louder this time, “Where am I?”

The words scratched his throat, constricted his chest, and cramped up his stomach, but he needed an answer. “Who are you? What have you done with Rose?”

The end of that sentence dissolved into screams of pain as he felt electricity course through his veins. A torture chamber then. Excellent. Just what he needed. As he struggled to catch his breath and keep his hearts beating, he thought about Rose and hoped she was somewhere else. In the same moment the Doctor realized that he’d failed her. Again.

He managed a half-smile before blacking out.

_Good one, Doctor. Fantastic indeed…_

**********

“Well, well, well, isn’t this cosy?”

Rose tried to scramble to her feet, only to remember she couldn’t open her eyes, and fell back against the end table. She managed to shatter the lamp standing on it, and hit her right hip on the edge before Jack grabbed her waist and pushed her behind him. One hand on her thigh, the other presumably held up in front of him, he replied to the intruder, “Who are you?”

“Oh, no need to be alarmed, I’m not going to hurt you. Or your little…” There was a pause and Rose could feel Jack’s grip on her tighten. “Accomplice.”

The way he said the word sounded dirty and she could feel her skin crawl with disgust, feeling his gaze burn her.

“Hey! I asked you a question!” Jack barked out, trying to nudge Rose further behind him, so the man - whoever he was - could see less of her.

“Yes. You did indeed. And the answers shall come. No need to be so… barbaric.” He chuckled and Rose frowned, annoyed at her lack of sight, and not being able to get any information on their visitor from Jack without sounding obvious.

“We shall discuss matters as civilized beings - as we are. Maybe a spot of tea?”

Jack snorted and took Rose’s hand, massaging the spot between her thumb and forefinger, trying to reassure her, as he answered, “You offer us tea and yet fail to notice that my friend can’t open her eyes, since the bloody hospital staff didn’t do their job well enough.”

That annoying chuckle again, and quiet clicks of boots. A well-dressed man then, if not very sympathetic. Rose made a mental note to ask Jack later about his appearance. Appearances tell a lot about people and although she couldn’t pride herself on always reading them right, she liked to have a go and form her own opinions. From his voice and blatant disregard of their imprisonment and her condition, Rose guessed he couldn’t be a very nice person.

“Don’t you worry, my dear Captain, your companion will make a full recovery within the next 48 hours. The eye condition is nothing more than the after effect of the aconitine overdose treatment.”

The couch they were sitting on before squeaked and Rose realized the man must have sat down. There was a long silence before Jack released her hand, taking her elbow instead and guiding her to a chair. She wanted to ask what was happening, but no one was talking, so she decided to remain quiet and wait.

“You might want to sit down Captain. We’ve got a long list of matters to discuss. It will be more comfortable.”

Rose could practically hear the strained smile that accompanied the statement.

“I’m just fine here, thank you. If you wish to carry on, this might be the time to start telling us why we’re here. How do you know I’m a Captain?”

“You’ve got a ship,” came the leisurely reply.

Rose felt Jack stiffen beside her and opened her mouth to correct the stranger, but her friend cut her off.

“That’s right. Where’s my TARDIS? What have you done with it?”

“We’ve secured the Police Box, and we’ll place it back into your custody as soon as you give us information on its functions.”

“You want to blackmail us?”

“Bribing would be a better word, I think. But yes. Knowledge is power, Captain Harkness, and it is my intention to execute that power to the people’s best interest.”

“What are you, a politician then? You certainly look the part. What’s with the cravat?”

“I am a member of the High Council of Yolg’izlik. And you are considered trespassers in the Emerald Palace until I say otherwise. You might want to start listening, Captain.”

He spit the last words and Rose shuddered involuntarily. Things didn’t look up for them at the moment and she had a terrible suspicion that they were about to get worse.

“Now then. Where were we? Oh, yes. Civilized discussion.” There was a clinking of china and spoons, the sound of liquid being poured into cups. “Tea, anyone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so a little disclaimer at the end, in case you're worried: this is not, and never will be a Rose/Jack story. Nor will it be a OT3. Their relationship is on the forefront of the story, and we'll see plenty more of it, but the endgame is the pairing I started out with: Nine/Rose. 
> 
> I know some of this chapter might have been a bit confusing (which was half my intention), but it _will_ be explained later. We will see jealous Nine and he'll have his reasons too, but I wouldn't like you to think I was deceiving when I said it's a Nine/Rose story. It is. From beginning to end. There's just certain developments in the middle. ;P


	6. Civilized Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor wakes up in hospital, and has his first encounter with his captors. He is in worse shape than he feared after his time in the torture chamber, but the that's not the worst news.   
> Meanwhile Rose and Jack are still stuck in their room, trying to figure out a way to get free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it has been AGES since I last updated. Apologizes for that. I recently started college and I'm just through with my first round of assignments. Bit of a crazy time. Anyway, here is the next chapter, I hope it will be to your liking! 
> 
> Also, as a result of me joining Camp Nano this April, I managed to write a fair bit of this story already. Which allows me to establish an update schedule: from now on I'll post a new chapter every Saturday, sometimes in the evening/afternoon. (Until exam time comes around, hehe.) I WILL let you know if the schedule changes. Thank you for sticking around.

“Well, well, look who’s awake.”

The Doctor bit back a groan and tried to fight the urge to put his fist into the source of the sound with a violent crash. It was most probably coming from someone’s face and he’d rather not antagonize his captors any more than he needed to. He moved his hands very carefully and asserted that he was still tied down. Not with chains this time, but with handcuffs? No telling without opening his eyes.

When he tried to move his legs, a loud moan escaped despite his best efforts as pain ricocheted through his body. Something was obviously broken and not healing as fast as it should.

“Now, now. Where’s the rush? I’d rather think you’re in no shape to try and get up just yet, my dear fella. Perhaps if you could open your eyes?”

The Doctor disliked the speaker instantly. His voice was dripping from condescension and hid well-restrained violence, but it was bubbling under the surface. It belonged to a shallow, greedy and sudden man; the Doctor decided and sighed inwardly. He had to hold his temper, at least until he found out where Rose was. It wouldn’t do to get himself electrocuted into oblivion again before he made sure his companion was safe.  

Opening his eyes slowly, he clutched at the rails on his bed, trying to keep himself from emptying the contents of his stomach in a rather ungraceful manner onto his jumper. The dizziness rocked him to his core and his first impulse was to squeeze his eyes shut again, but he resisted. He needed to clear his head as soon as possible and asses his surroundings. This proved more difficult than he first thought as he was faced once again with blinding white light.

“Could you turn that bloody thing off?!”

So much for keeping his temper in check.

The man on his right - the Doctor finally managed to sort out his sense of direction - chuckled indulgently and the Doctor heard a click of a switch. He blinked several times and gulped down cold air in big gasps. His head was pounding fiercely and he wasn’t sure he could hold his tongue if the man continued smiling like a well-fed toddler. Counting to ten very slowly, he exhaled, clenched, then unclenched his fists and moved his legs as subtly as possible. He hissed as pain shot through the right one and the pounding in his head doubled.

“What did you do to me?” he asked thickly.

That chuckle again and he strained against his handcuffs with all his might.

“Oh don’t worry, my friend. We just made sure that you wouldn’t… cause any difficulties.” He pursed his lips for a moment, as if deep in thought, then picked up a teacup and drank a few loud gulps. He seemed to have miscalculated the temperature of his beverage however, as he jumped slightly and grimaced.

The Doctor smirked and relaxed a bit. The other man’s fussing gave him enough time to look around. He was in a hospital bed - and it was an imperial one, if the heavily embroidered, golden bed covers were anything to go by. The capital then, Charhelm.

 He couldn’t say he was particularly happy about the development. He’d been to Yolg’izlik a number of times before, but he always avoided the Crystal City on his previous visits. Its reputation was enough to make the Doctor give it a wide berth, not wanting to be swept up in the messy politics of the Council. He knew the system, knew it all too well. From what he gathered, it was rather similar to the one they used on Gallifrey.

Looking at the man beside his bed, the Doctor concluded that he must be a Council member. Maybe even a top dog in the High Council. His attire was certainly fitting. Rich red robes over a deep blue vest. A gold cravat glinted majestically at his neck in the weak sunlight filtering through the windows and his black boots were polished until they shone almost equally bright. The Doctor resisted the urge to roll his eyes and thought that on a better man the garments might have even looked impressive. He had an uneasy feeling about the ceremonial robes, but couldn’t concentrate long enough to catch his own train of thought. The man was moving.

He stood up in a somewhat jagged motion and put his hands on his enormous belly. He looked quite unattractive with that gloating smirk.

“I am Otto IV. I am a proud member of the High Council of Yolg’izlik and managing director of the Interplanetary Interactive Association. We have found you, and your companions to be trespassing on sacred land at the time of our annual holiday.”

The Doctor shook his head and replied, “You don’t bloody well know what you’re talkin’ about! The Order of the Red Roses was dispersed three thousand years ago. All you’ve got is fringe movements trying to penetrate the system; you don’t have sacred grounds anymore. At least not as far as the high and mighty are concerned in the Council.”

The man lowered his gaze slowly to the Doctor’s feet and swept his gaze over the leather jacket lying beside them.

“You seem to know an awful lot about our home for someone who’s not from around here. Did the Intergalactic Travel send you? Hm? They’re quite determined to advertise their contracts with the most obnoxious farces in the history of the Seven Systems.”

“No.”

They stared at each other for a solid minute after the Doctor’s one word reply. It was the other man who broke the silence.

“Are you an ally of the Revolutionists? You do know we’ve got laws to prevent an uprising. In any way we deem appropriate.” His shark-like smile sent a cold ball of dread to the Doctor’s stomach and he narrowed his eyes at Otto. He couldn’t ask about Rose just yet, if the Council didn’t know she was here he couldn’t give it away.

“What revolution would that be?”  
“None so far. And let’s hope it stays that way, eh?” The other man leaned in close, leaving mere inches between his face and the Doctor’s. The Doctor could smell his sour breath and see his bloodshot eyes blocking out the sun from his view. His stomach turned, but he stared back without flinching. When Otto realized his intimidation strategy wasn’t working, he took a step back and wheezed slightly from the exertion of such concentrated movements.

The Doctor didn’t say a word for the next ten minutes as they studied each other. Otto didn’t seem to know what to do with him. He was either very bad at interrogating people (which seemed likely to the Doctor - he seemed like the man to leave the dirty work to others), or he realized by now that interrogation wouldn’t work on the Doctor. Not like this.  

“What do you want with me?” the Doctor asked finally, tired of waiting.

Otto stopped his pacing abruptly, then turned very slowly towards the Doctor.

“What to do with you. That is the question, isn’t it?” He walked back towards his seat and glanced at it with something akin to longing, but didn’t sit down. Instead he picked up a strange looking wooden staff with a glowing blue orb sitting at the top of the handle. He leaned on it heavily and took a few steps towards the Doctor’s bed.

“I think we shall leave you here for a while longer. See if it makes you any more cooperative. If not… Well.” That smile again. A chill ran down the Doctor’s spine at the thought of this man getting near to Rose and he hoped to whatever deity they worshiped here that Otto was unaware of her whereabouts. It was likely he already knew about her existence, but if she escaped unscathed then all the Doctor’s suffering would be worth it.

“In that case, I’m afraid we’ll have to resort to our more ingenious methods of making people talk. Good night, Stranger.”

With that he put his hand on the blue orb and murmured a few words, then promptly disappeared. The Doctor shook his head. Why on earth would the people of Yolg’izlik want to disguise a teleport as witchcraft? He had a lot to find out about this planet and its inhabitants. Especially the Council. No matter how hard he tried staying away from them in the past, it didn’t seem to be working now. Ignorance is a curse, didn’t he always think that? The Doctor had to concede that his childish refusal to enter Charhelm in the past had finally caught up with him and decided to teach him a lesson.

If he could only get free he could start investigating properly. It was easier said than done, unfortunately. He looked at his leather jacket longingly and thought about the sonic. They probably took it. Still, it was worth a try. He looked around for a nurse and was ready to call out, when the window behind him shattered with a loud crash.

********

Rose was silent. She could hear Jack pacing back and forth in the room and wanted to tell him to stop it because it was making her dizzy. She didn’t though. She was too worried, her head too full of thoughts to think clearly. She just wanted to curl up and cry. Funny how much losing her vision - even if it was only temporary - affected her. She could feel her throat tightening, the familiar burn of tears behind her eyelids and she gulped loudly.

Jack stopped.

She must have looked awfully like she was going to burst out in tears at any moment because the next thing she knew, her head was pressed to his chest and he was rocking her back and forth, kissing her hair softly and murmuring soothing words she couldn’t make out.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and tried very hard not to cry.

“It’s alright, Rosie. Let’s have a good cry. I’m feeling like I might need one too.” His voice sounded only half-joking and Rose burst into laughter. Which brought on the tears too.

After a half an hour of alternative crying and laughing - and sometimes doing both at the same time - Rose sighed and got up from the couch carefully.

“Okay. We need to stop moping. You need to stop me from moping!” She jabbed a finger in the general direction of the couch, missing Jack by half a mile, but he didn’t tell her. He winced as his friend hit her foot in the table leg and got up himself, taking her arm gently.

“I’m the one who comforts you, Rosie, remember? The Doc is the one who comes with an eye roll and a slap on the back and gets you on another adventure before you can cry your eyes out.”

Rose could imagine his half-smile as he said that and she shook her head.

“Yeah, I guess. He can be comforting too when he wants to be, you know.”

Jack was silent for a moment, before he replied very quietly, “I know.”

Rose’s head whipped up and she tried to look at Jack before remembering she still couldn’t open her eyes. She could sense his gaze on her face. Wanted to ask how he knew too, but something stopped her. It just felt wrong talking about the Doctor when he wasn’t there. Or rather it felt wrong to talk about something so intimate that he probably wouldn’t share, would he be there.

“Right. How do we get out of here? Now that the emperor is gone, we need to make a plan.” Her voice sounded raw from crying and she suddenly felt too tired to move. Trying to shake it off, she moved towards the left, Jack guiding her towards the window. She only realized she was standing in front of it when her hands touched the cool glass.

“The only problem is that we can’t get out of here. Windows still can’t be opened, door still locked. We don’t know an awful lot about where we are except that it’s apparently called the Emerald Palace, and that it houses the High Council, whatever that is on this planet. So it must be a big place, and from the arrogance of that Otto fellow, I think it’s very well guarded. Or shall I say, _we_ are very well guarded,” Jack stated glumly.

Rose pressed her forehead against the window and groaned in frustration.

“If we can’t get out, how are we going to find the Doctor? There must be something we can do!”

Jack put his hands on her shoulder and sighed. “You’re not gonna like this, but…”

“But?”

“Rose, we can’t go anywhere. We have to wait for the Doctor to come to us. At least until your eyesight returns, we can’t attempt and escape. Even if we did manage to get out, how are we going to get anywhere?”

Rose stayed silent and turned away from his embrace, feeling the frustration in her stomach building up to a low burn that ate away at her core. She couldn’t just stay put and wait. She simply couldn’t. Not with having no idea where the Doctor was or if he was even alright.

“I know it’s frustrating sweetheart, but we can’t. You’re right, we need plan, but I’m gonna need you for it.”  
“You never needed anyone while you were a freelancer.”

Jack laughed bitterly, a sound Rose wasn’t in any way used to, and hugged her tight.

“Oh Rose, I didn’t have anyone. There’s a difference.”

She could feel his gaze on her face once more and she attempted a smile. It wasn’t as bright as she’d have liked it to be, but under the circumstances it was all she could manage.

Jack seemed to appreciate it though as he gave her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth and squeezed her hand before walking away from the window.

“Otto’s little trip wasn’t entirely useless though. I did gather a little bit of information that might be useful later.”

“Yeah? And what might that be?” Rose took a few tentative steps and sat down when she bumped into the edge of the couch.

“Listen…” Jack leaned in and pretend whispered, making Rose giggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, could you please take a moment to leave a comment/kudo? If you leave both you're an absolute star and contribute a lot to me being able to write the following chapters, knowing that someone cares about my story! Thank you.


	7. Who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finds himself in the middle of a revolution, tied to his hospital bed, with no idea how to get out. His decision to not visit the Crystal City in the past is reinforced when he gets swept up in the chaos.   
> Jack and Rose meanwhile are still stuck in their room, trying to form an escape plan and not worry too much about the Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the chapter when things really start to move forward. We get introduced to new characters from now on, some OC, some quite familiar from the show. The setting is also expanding a bit, we're going to see more and more of Yolg'izlik.
> 
> Thank you for sticking around and reading the story, I'll try to keep up with the weekly updates as best as I can. 
> 
> Also, I have gone back to being unbetad, so all of the mistakes are mine.

“What the deuce?” the Doctor cursed loudly and attempted to get rid of the broken glass in his hair. Without the use of his hands, he could hardly do anything else. There was a great deal of shouting from behind him, and the beginnings of total chaos in front. Nurses and patients were running about, loud shrieks and frightened whispers spreading like wildfire and he heard someone call for security. Of what kind, he didn’t know - he doubted they’d use the same policemen in the Imperial City as they would on the outskirts of the planet, in a market-town.

He decided the best strategy would be remaining unnoticed. The Doctor lay as still as he could and closed his eyes momentarily, only opening them a little when the sounds of disturbance moved from behind him to the far side of the hospital ward. What he saw caused him to raise his head and attempt to sit up, only to realize he was still tied down. Nonetheless, he looked on in amazement and shock.

A revolution! He landed in the middle of a bloody revolution! Sighing, he laid his head back down and tried to avoid the sharp, shattered pieces of crystal that flew in all directions. The fighting style was nothing like he’d ever seen before. Men and women in bright golden robes were moving around the chamber, completing each other’s motions, circling around the hospital beds, never harming patients or staff, only throwing these strange, jagged pieces of gemstone into the air. What for, the Doctor had no idea.

The crystals seemed to gather and beam out the sunlight from outside simultaneously, making it entirely too difficult to concentrate on anything else but this strange dance that was performed in front of the Doctor’s eyes. The ward soon looked like a crown jewel, sparks flying everywhere, blinding lights stealing away the spectators’ breath; the Revolutionaries looking like dancers, performing to an improvised audience who weren’t sure how they ended up at the theatre in the first place.

The Doctor watched open-mouthed, his lips curling into a smile, his eyes wide and childlike. He was about to start cheering when it happened: a loud explosion that rocked the whole room and made the Doctor choke on his laughter. The shrieks died down slowly, like a body staggering to the ground after its head has been cut off. No one seemed sure what was happening.

The Doctor blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head while getting himself free of his shackles. A strange fog covered the room - black and purple curling around each other and embracing the people within in a deadly cloud. It didn’t quite reach the Doctor’s bed, only hovering over his feet ominously. He squinted and tried to see what was going on behind the smoke cloud, but his eyes couldn’t penetrate its depths. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and did the only thing he could think of: he shouted as loudly as he could.

“Anyone care to explain what’s goin’ on?”

He didn’t hear the footsteps approaching, but after about a solid minute of waiting, a head popped out of the fog and a female voice answered, “That’s none of your business, Big Ears.”

“Oi! Why is it always the ears?” asked the Doctor incredulously.

The girl rolled her eyes and came out of the fog. She was quite small; she wouldn’t reach his shoulder if he was standing upright. Her mousy brown hair and sharp, small nose gave her a fae-like appearance, as if she were a pixie or a sprite. Her deep green eyes seemed to stare straight into the Doctor’s soul and he fought the urge to shudder.

“Who are you?” he asked instead.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and the next thing he knew, he had a pesh-kabz pressed to his throat. He raised one eyebrow and stared into the girl’s deep green eyes.

“You must have come from really far away if you don’t know what I am.”

The edge of the dagger still being pressed tightly to his neck, the Doctor didn’t reply. After a few moments, the girl seemed to decide he was suitably intimidated and put her pesh-kabz back into her boot.

He swallowed gingerly and felt a warm trickle down his neck. Oh, so she did cut him! He tried to supress a grin and met her eyes once again.

“Why did you say what?”

“What do you mean?”

“When I asked you who you are, you replied with what, not who.”

“Oh,” she seemed to hesitate, consider, her eyes shining with something the Doctor would have liked to investigate. He didn’t get the opportunity though, because she looked at him sharply and cut his shackles off in a sudden, sweeping movement.

“Thanks. But you still haven’t answered my question.”

He put on his jacket and sat on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

“What makes you think I will?” she challenged.

He grinned and looked her slowly up and down.

“Alright. You won’t tell me. I’ll just have to take a guess then. You’re some sort of revolutionary. You’re probably rebelling against the Council and the dominant political power - which in this case is likely the same thing. You won’t give me your name, probably because rebelling against the state is punishable by death. You seem pretty confident to me, so you’ve been doing this for a long time. Tell me, how long has it been since you started fighting a battle you can never win?”

Her mouth opened and for a minute the Doctor was sure she was going to start shouting at him, but then her eyes filled with tears and she sunk down on the chair that Otto left empty barely a few minutes before. She was breathing heavily, lips trembling, knuckles white as they gripped a sharp crystal hanging on a golden chain around her neck. Finally, she lifted her eyes to his once more and there was fire in them, fire and ice, but most of all - determination.

“I might not be able to win, Wanderer, but I am fighting.”

“Why?”

She scoffed and was about to start arguing when her shoulders drooped once again. She turned her back on him and started walking back towards the black cloud.

“If I won’t, who will?”

The Doctor smiled, but didn’t move and didn’t try to stop her as she took out a small pouch from her left pocket. He leaned around the end of the bed to peek. It was filled almost to the brim with sparkling, dark blue powder.

“Goldstone? Blue goldstone?”

The girl’s head whipped up and she stared at him for a full minute in silence.

“What do you know about it?”

“It’s from Earth. It’s a man-made stone; it was invented by monks - copper in glass that sparkles like liquid starlight. It haven’t been found anywhere else but on Earth, and only until the 34th century. The method was still known, it’s not that difficult to make. Not exactly the Alchemist’s Stone,” the Doctor grinned to himself as the girl frowned. “But with the technological advancements, no one cared about crystals anymore, certainly not making them. Exploiting resources, maybe, but by then the Earth was empty of most of its treasures. Robbed and scavenged by mankind.” He looked into the distance and the girl stared at him questioningly, her thought from before that this man had seen war being all but confirmed in the expression of his stormy blue eyes.

“But it never left Earth, not to my knowledge at least,” he finished.

“Oh, and you’re knowledge is all-encompassing?”

“No!” It was his turn to scoff. “But it’s a lot nearer to it than yours.”

It was his manic grin, the girl decided. You couldn’t take his insults seriously when he was grinning like a madman, eyes alight and spirit free.

She shook her head.

“We call it the Wolf’s Tears. We melt copper and add it to sand, then cook them,” the Doctor raised both eyebrows and she had to laugh. “What? We do! We cook them…”

“You cook them?”

“Yes!”

“You cook sand? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Do you add onions too?”

The girl shook her head and gave him a half-smile, but did not answer.

“I hope you won’t have to be alone for much longer, Wanderer. Take care of yourself.”

She didn’t see the Doctor’s shocked expression as she gathered a handful of powder in her hand and threw it into the fog cloud.

 

*********

“How is it?”

“Mhmh… It’s nice. Soothing. Thank you,” Rose mumbled sleepily.

Jack heaved a sigh and sat down. They’ve been stuck in this room for thirty-nine hours and twenty-two minutes, if the clock on the mantelpiece was measuring time according to human standards. The former Time Agent ran a hand through his hair and smiled at the woman lying on the couch. Her face was covered with a thin, peach-coloured cloth that Jack found in the bathroom. After rummaging through the cupboard, he came across some Omirra leaves, crunched them up with a strange-looking rectangular spoon and let the cloth sit in the juice for a bit before instructing Rose to lie down and put it on her eyes. He had no idea if it would help, but it was worth a try. Anything was worth a try.

Jack wasn’t really worried about his friend’s eyes; although he didn’t trust the Councilman, he didn’t see why he would lie about Rose’s condition. But the waiting was killing him. Doing something, _anything_ was better than sitting still and thinking.

Mentioning which, he was thinking entirely too much. About the Doctor, about where he could be - it bothered him as much, if not more, as Rose even if he’d never tell. If they had to break out themselves, they’d need a plan, they’d need more information, and these were things that they couldn’t find in this room. Captain Jack Harkness was a resourceful man, but even he couldn’t make something out of nothing.

And as much as he hated admitting, at the moment what they had was exactly nothing. Null. Zero. Nix. They came to this conclusion after their last talk with Rose, no matter how unhappy they both were about the verdict. The only person they met so far was Otto IV, and as much as Jack didn’t want to acknowledge it, the good Councilman was rather efficient at not giving anything away. The former Time Agent buried his face in his hands and tried to think back to the conversation they had with the man.

 

_“So then, that ship of yours…”_

_“What is the Emerald Palace exactly?”_

_The man put his cup down with a clink and shook his head._

_“Now, now, Captain.” He stood up slowly, his belly almost knocking over the china on the coffee table. “We best establish some ground rules.” His smile was like a vulture’s and Jack involuntarily tightened his grip on Rose’s shoulders._

_“I ask the questions. You answer. If I choose to share information with you, you express an appropriate amount of gratitude and keep as quiet as you can while I talk. Is that clear?”_

_Jack grinded his teeth and squeezed his friend’s shoulders almost painfully when Rose tried to object._

_“Yes, Mr…”_

_“Otto IV, ascendant of the founding father of the High Council himself, and director of the Interplanetary Interactive Association, amongst other things. I do dislike boasting though.” With a neatly clipped smile, he sat back down and stared at Jack._

_“Shall we get back on topic? The ship…”_

_“What do you want to know?”_

_“How do you operate it?” he took a sip of his tea, pinkie held up, and Jack grimaced. The contrast between the man’s sudden, primitive nature and outward coolness and good manner bothered him to the extent where his hand was itching to wipe the smug expression off Otto’s face._

_“It is quite a complex machinery, I’m not sure you would…”_

_“Try me.”_

_The other man’s tone darkened perceptively and Jack could feel a shiver running through Rose at the sound of it. Better tread carefully, the Councilman didn’t seem to be in any mood for games._

_“It uses a series of genetic stamps, only I can open the door.”_

_Otto stared at him for a few minutes while Jack put on his best poker face and looked him straight in the eye. The trick was to be the last one to look away. He didn’t move when he felt Rose shift under his hand, only stroked two fingers over her collarbone, trying to let her know silently that they were going okay._

_Finally, after long minutes of complete silence, just when Jack decided he couldn’t win against the Councilman, Otto moved. He put his cup on the table and motioned for the men standing at the door to take away the tea sets. He didn’t bother to look back at Jack until all the trays and cups have been removed. Even then, his expression was unfathomable, not giving any indication whether he believed the former Time Agent or not._

_“I see.”_

_He walked slowly to the door, taking large, gasping breaths as he went, and searching an inner pocket for something. He seemed to have found it a moment later as he fidgeted with an object in his right hand that Jack couldn’t see. Turning back one last time, the Councilman addressed him, “We shall see whether you speak the truth. I strongly suggest that you rectify your statement now if it’s not the case. The consequences of making the Council take unnecessary efforts in an imperial investigation would be… severe.”_

_Jack could barely hear the last word, Otto said it so quietly. With a swift turn of his ring - for Jack now saw that the object the Councilman was looking for was in fact a gold band with green gemstones of various sizes embedded inside it - Otto disappeared._

_“Huh. Teleport. Wouldn’t have guessed we’d find it on this planet,” murmured Jack to himself._

_Rose’s hand came up to clutch at his shoulder and he enveloped her in an embrace._

_“What happened?” her voice was muffled as she buried her head in the crook of his neck._

_“I really don’t know, Rosie. I just really don’t know.”_

“So, what are we going to do now?”

Jack’s head whipped up at the sound of Rose’s voice and he was about to tell her to lie back down when he realized she hadn’t moved. Good on you, Harkness, getting lost in your own head when people need you.

“We have to figure out how to leave this place. We are going to wait until your eyes get better, but we can’t stall very long. For all I know that Otto fella has already checked the Tardis and is on his way back. I’m not too keen on finding out what will happen to us if he catches the lie.”

Rose nodded and sat up slowly. Taking the cloth off her face, she blinked a couple of times, then smiled brightly at Jack, meeting his eyes for the first time since they woke up after their hospital visit.

“You can see!” Jack exclaimed.

“I can. I really can.” Rose jumped up and bounced happily on her feet, letting Jack sweep her up in a hug and spin them around.

“Alright. We can get to freeing ourselves now. Better hurry up. As you said, Otto might be back soon.”

She walked around the room, checking the walls, doors and windows for any sign of an escape opportunity. It was in vain, Jack knew, but he let her do it anyway. Maybe she’d see something he didn’t. Rose was rather good at ingenious solutions. Half an hour later, she sat back down with a sigh.

“Nothing then?”

“No. Can’t see a single hair on the carpet, much less an overlooked security breach.”

Jack flopped down beside her.

“I guess that leaves us with only one option?”

She perked up her head and looked at him with wide, honey-brown eyes that got him dizzy. Jack could really understand what the Doctor saw in Rose, even if their little ape herself could so rarely see her own worth. He wished he could show it to her somehow…

“Well…”

Rose stuck her tongue out between her teeth and grinned at him.

“Shouting for help as loud as we can?”  
“Exactly!” He sprang up and raced to the door. “You stand on one side, me on the other. Whoever comes will open this door if we’re clever enough with the shouting. When they do, and this is very important Rose, when they do, you smack them on the head as hard as you can.”

Rose raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “And it’s me doing the smacking because you like to watch…”  
“Well, yes, but that’s irrelevant,” Jack grinned back. “So, you smack them, hopefully they pass out and then we run for it. I’ve got no idea where we are and how we’ll find our way, but getting out of here is our first priority at the moment.”

Rose nodded and picked up a bronze sculpture from one of the side tables. Jack had no idea what it was supposed to be portraying. It looked very much like a cross between a lizard, a thorn bush and a certain kind of purple goo they’ve seen on the Twin Planets of Isis. In any case, it looked heavy enough to bring down whoever would come to open the door.

“Ready?”

She nodded again and Jack took a deep breath, ready to lie through his teeth as much as he needed to get them out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just fyi: the crystal mentioned in the hospital is actually a real gemstone, I only made-up the part of how the revolutionaries use it (which you're gonna see more of in the next chapter).
> 
> I do realize the Doctor and Rose are still not together in the story, and they won't be for a while yet. Hence the separations tag. They WILL get their reunion eventually, but they'll have to go through their own journey before they can arrive to the same place. They won't spend the whole duration of the fic apart, don't worry. I'll just ask you for a bit more patience until they do get together again. 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos are much appreciated and they go a long way towards keeping me writing. Life is rather busy for me at the moment, so whenever I get a new comment it makes my day and gives me strength to carry on with the story.


	8. It's a revolution I suppose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Rose's escape plan seem to bring unexpected results. The Doctor may or may not have lost his screwdriver. We learn where the name Emerald Palace came from. And we learn more about the Revolution and its members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’m late with the update, apologizes for that. Had a long weekend where I live and didn’t realize it was already next week. Ooops. As I said, I’m still in the process of learning to stick to an update schedule, so you’ll have to forgive me when this happens sometimes. 
> 
> In any case, here is the next installment.

“Anyone out there? We need help! Hey!” Jack punctuated each word with pounding his fists on the door violently. His voice sounded raw and was tainted with fear - all the while he was grinning like a maniac at Rose.

She shook her head and gave him a small smile in return, thinking of how much the Doctor would roll his eyes right at that moment. She felt a sudden sting of pain in her chest and her face fell. She took a shuddering breath and gripped the sculpture in her hand tighter, determination etched into her features and Jack started to shout louder, taking his cue.

“My friend’s bleeding! Someone help! Her eyes are bleeding! She can’t see! The Councilman told us she’d be alright. Anyone out there?! We need help!”

There was a sound of rushing footsteps from outside and a murmured argument as the door creaked and was opened promptly. It almost swung off its hinges, trapping Rose between the wall and its wooden surface.

What neither Rose nor Jack was counting on was the number of guards swarming into the room. They thought one or maybe two people would come to their aid. What they found instead was a small army of men in red uniforms, with strange, purple staffs glinting in their hands, a pointed crystal sitting on top.

There wasn’t much time to think things through - Jack grinned at the guards while Rose threw the sculpture at the one standing nearest to her and they ran out of the room. They managed to slam the door shut before any of them realized what was going on and sank down onto the floor in fits of laughter. They scrambled slowly to their feet after a few seconds of uncontrolled laughter, trying to stay quiet. Jack was still wiping at his tears when Rose let out a loud gasp. The former Time Agent spun around, his hands clenched into fists; ready to strike whatever was attacking them when he realized there was nobody around. He opened his mouth to ask Rose was what wrong, but a split-second later he realized what made her speechless.

They were standing in the middle of a hallway, he gathered as much at first glance when they left their prison. What he didn’t notice is that everything around them seemed to be made of crystals. They were standing on a semi-transparent green floor that seemed to scatter sunlight all across the hall. Which was very sizable, Jack observed. There were similar walkways above them as far as the eye could see - some busy with people rushing to and fro, some empty and alight with blinding sunlight. A few even seemed to be blocked for some reason. Huge boulders of greenstone were placed on each end and men in deep red robes stood guard on each side. The door they exited blended in perfectly with the wall behind them, a clear honey-brown that seemed to swirl in the heightened atmosphere of thousands of crystals reflecting sunlight off of each other. 

“The Doctor said they have three suns,” Rose spoke quietly. “Before we came here. I was going to tease him about how we never got to see even one of them in the blizzard.”

She gave him a sad smile and Jack’s heart clenched painfully in his chest.

“We’re going to find him Rose.” He opened his arms and Rose ran into his embrace. Running his hands through her hair he hugged her tight. “We’ll find him, even if we have to go through every room of this blasted place.”

Rose sniffled into his collar and nodded.

“Hey,” he cupped her face in one hand. “We’re good, Rosie. We’ve got each other, remember? And I will never leave you. I promise.”

Rose’s face brightened and he nodded for emphasis, placing a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Good. Now let’s see if we can find an exit. This glinting doesn’t help much with visibility,”  
 he added.

Rose’s tongue appeared between her teeth as she smiled on. “Well, they do call it the Emerald Palace. If nothing else, they at least have a talent for names.”

“And abusing people,” added Jack wryly.

He regretted not keeping his mouth shut a moment later when her face fell and she tried to blink back tears. She was worried about the Doctor, Jack could tell, and he was being entirely honest, he was too. Very worried. By this time the Doc usually found them. Jack didn’t want to imagine what Otto and his men must have done to him that he was unable to come. Then again, it could be the Palace. The energy of the crystals might interfere with the sonic, in which case it would take a while for even the Doctor to find them in such a vast place.

He took Rose’s hand gently in his own and squeezed it.

“Let’s go.”

 

********

 

“Why are we running?” asked Suri.

“I don’t know. Seemed like a good option back there!” the Doctor panted and made a sharp turn. Suri almost ran into the wall as a result and was about to take out her pesh-kabz when the Doctor tugged on her arm.

“Oi! Be a good girl and put the dagger away. I’ll explain in a minute. Now could you get a move on?”

Suri shook her head, but slipped the weapon back into her left boot and increased her pace to a sprint. She was overtaking the Doctor quite fast, but he didn’t seem to mind. It was only at the next intersection that he yelled at her to turn left.

“Why left?”

“I don’t know, just a gut feelin’. It never lies,” he grinned at her while patting his stomach and Suri couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to cry. He was clearly a madman. Worse than that, he didn’t seem at all perturbed about being chased through the Imperial Hospital by Warlocks who had permission to kill.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing…”

“I always do, me. Hang on. Did you see my screwdriver?”

They arrived at a closed door at the end of the tunnel and Suri was about to turn back and leave the idiot alone when he mentioned the screwdriver.

“Really? What use is a screwdriver? They’ve got magic!”

The Doctor scoffed. “No, they don’t! It’s just utilizing kinetic energy better than you lot. Not that the crystals weren’t amazin’, but creating a temporal paralysis takes way too long with that kind of equipment. Rather effective when you can manage it, but it’s no use to us now.”

Suri scowled again and was about to argue and call him out on being bonkers, but he cut her off once again, “So, did you see it?”

“Did I see what? And what the hell are you talking about? Kinetic energy and temporal… nonsense…” she trailed off, looking at him quizzically.

“Paralysis.”

She cocked her head to one side.

“Temporal paralysis. That’s the technical term for what you did in the hospital ward, throwing all those crystals together in the air. You stopped Time for a minute there. Well, not really, but it’s a bit hard to explain when you think that witchcraft exists. I still haven’t figured out how you did it exactly. But the method is genius! You lot looked like you were dancin’.”

“That’s because we were. It’s the sacred Dance of the Seven Sisters. When the song of the moons align to form a circle, we perform a dance and the world stops.” She looked off into the distance and didn’t see the Doctor frown.

“You mean you only do this once every… six weeks, five days, eleven hours and nine seconds?”

Surprise overcame the reverent look Suri had just a moment ago and she nodded. “Yes. But how did you know that? You’re a Wanderer, you’re not part of the Sisterhood.”

“What’s this Sisterhood then? Is it like a religious order?”

“I guess where you come from they might call it that.  It is not. It’s a way of life. The bettering of the self. The fight against the Lonely Gods.”

“Who are the Lonely Gods and why do you fight them?”  
“It’s them,” she stuck out her chin and jerked her head in the direction where they came from, a contemptuous look on her face.

“The Council?”

Suri nodded.

“Okay. Why are they lonely?”

“Oh, it’s not them who are lonely. It’s everybody else. Don’t you know our language, Wanderer? Yolg’izlik means the Lonely Planet.”

He seemed to stop his fidgeting and think for a moment. He opened his mouth to reply when they heard muffled shouting in the distance.

“They’re comin’. Quick, hide under there!”

Suri looked incredulously at him as he pointed to the ventilation shaft.

“I’m not going in there.”

“Well, unless you give me my screwdriver, we don’t have another option.”

He was already busy trying to open the ventilation shaft, not looking at her or waiting for her response.

“What does it look like?”

“Like a screwdriver, but it’s sonic.”

Suri rolled her eyes and tried to think back to their first meeting with the Doctor.

_After leaving him on the bed, she completed the Dance and released the people in the hospital. There was gasping and fearful looks, but she walked on, determination in every step, walked straight to the golden podium in the middle and stood up tall on it._

_“People of Yolg’izlik, listen to me!”_

_The noise quietened down and she could feel peace surrounding her, as always, when they were in the aftermath of the Dance._

_“We have lived in fear. In isolation. In loneliness.” The words sat heavily on her tongue and all she wanted was to be rid of them. Not yet child, she scolded herself, not yet. Still got a way to go. Still got a lot to learn._

_“How long has it been since you looked upon the blue of the sky, the golden glow of our suns and you were happy? Can you remember it? Happiness? Can you say you loved and have been loved in return, by the person you have chosen in your lifetime? Can you?”_

_She was shouting by now, her voice rising, catching flight, growing wings as she saw the sadness so deeply ingrained in the souls of her people. For they were her people too, despite their many differences, despite her disapproval of the support these people gave to the Council. They were one. And they were fighting for the same thing, even if they stood on opposing sides._

_“We are not enemies. I know what the Council says about the Sisterhood. I know what many of you thinks of us! I know you think we’re cheaters, we’re scum, we’re the free chains that brought this planet down, but it is not so! I stand here today and ask you, beg of you, to look at me and see that I do not want loneliness on this planet.”_

_Spreading her arms, she lifted her head and caught the eyes of the few people who would look at her._

_“I am not your enemy. I might not be your Sister, not the way there once were Sisters, but I stand here today in the name of love. I fight here today to chase away the loneliness.”_

_One of the nurses in a purple uniform (a sign of loyalty to the Council) moved to stop her, but a red-haired revolutionary cut her short - Amelie was her name? Something like that, Suri wasn’t sure._

_“Why are you all sick? What poisons us?”_

_There was a murmur of different words spoken, but the most distinct one was the term ‘mood patches’._

_“That’s right! And what makes us use the mood patches?” She looked around the room, only to see dumbfounded looks and she felt like crying. She had done this many times before, but it wasn’t any easier, not matter how many times she went through it already. These people were treated like cattle, not told why they had to obey the Council, not asked what they wanted, expected to follow orders blindly._

_“What makes us use them? Well, I’ll answer if no one else can. We use them because living without opens us up to the truth. To the pain. A pain so unbearable we have to rely on chemicals to wash it all away. To numb us until we cannot feel anymore. And why do we live like that? Because of the Council! Because it is not legal on Yolg’izlik to marry for love! Because the children are viewed as a nuisance instead of the treasure they are. Because the only way we are able to conceive children is if we put on a patch and let the chemicals take over our bodies! Enough, I say!”_

_They weren’t roused yet, she could tell, but they were still listening. The one cumbersome nurse was held in a death-grip by the ginger girl whose name Suri couldn’t remember and no one else seemed inclined to speak up against the Revolution._

_“We aren’t cattle, are we? We are told - you are told what to do, but never why you do it. We mustn’t question the authority, the Council, because it is dangerous. Look at me, I’m dangerous. I have a death penalty on my head. Had it since I was three. But I am still alive. And still fighting. And I will keep fighting until my last breath!”_

_She could see eyes shining with emotion now and she knew the favour of the gods was on her side this time._

_“Come and fight with me! That is the only way to overcome this nightmare! Stand up and make your voice heard. Make your life count! Don’t abandon your children! Marry for love! Look in my eyes with love!”_

_A unifying cry of “For love!” reverberated through the hospital ward and Suri became hopeful._

_“For love!” she shouted._

_“For love!” the crowd echoed._

_“With love!” she yelled._

_“With love!” they repeated._

_The doors banged open and Warlocks rushed in, deep red robes flying wild around their ankles, brandishing their staffs, throwing bolts of electricity in all directions. Suri saw one of the nurses crumble to the floor in a heap and signalled to her team to retreat. The ginger girl hit one of the Warlocks already and seemed to want to stay and fight, but one of Suri’s pesh-kabz landing two inches from her left ear stopped her._

_The revolutionaries started to leave the building as fast as they could. The patients and nurses were shrieking again, chaos overwhelming the hospital. Suri was hit by one of the bolts originating from the warlocks’ staff and stumbled backwards. She was caught from behind and steadied on her feet by a reassuring hand on the small of her back._

_When she turned she was looking into the warm blue eyes of the prisoner she just left on the hospital bed._

_“So, what’s your name then?”_

_She was so disorientated by those shining blue eyes and the gentle hands that caught her that she didn’t even think before the words were out of her mouth._

_“Suri. My name is Suri.”_

_He nodded slightly, took her right hand in his and smiled a devilish smile._

_“Nice to meet you Suri. Run for your life.”_

_And so they ran._

If she thought back hard, she could remember seeing a thin, greyish blue object on the side table beside his bed. She did pick it up as they exited the ward, but it looked nothing like a screwdriver. Not by her definition at least. Still, might be worth a try. Who knows what being sonic did to things?

“Are you looking for this?” she asked nonchalantly and threw him the object.

His smile when he caught the strange looking pencil (for Suri thought that was the most accurate description she could give it) was so bright she was taken aback for a moment, staring at the sheer beauty of it and decided with a shake of her head that she liked him. Crazy or not, he was the most interesting person she’s ever met. And he seemed to genuinely care about people, even if his almost phlegmatic attitude to danger didn’t appeal to Suri.

“Yes! That is exactly what I was looking for!”

He scrambled to his feet and ran to her, kissing her forehead swiftly before rushing to the door and fidgeting with the lock until it opened. Suri didn’t have time to scowl at the sudden, uninvited contact - he was pulling her inside the next chamber by the hand, swiftly closing the door behind them as the shouting got louder and they could hear hurried footsteps. It seemed to reach them just as the door clicked shut and they both yelled triumphantly as their escape seemed to go down successfully.

Their merriment didn’t last long however, as they soon discovered there was no way out of the room except for the door they came in through.  

“What now?” Suri asked impatiently, all the cheer evaporating from her heart as the Doctor paced around the room.

“We wait,” he replied.

“Wait?!” she asked incredulously.

“Well, you’ve got any better ideas?”

Suri crossed her arms and shook her head.

“Then we wait.”

They sat down on a large crate back to back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. As always, your comments and kudos mean the world to me and keep me writing, so please leave one if you're enjoying this story.


	9. Escape Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologizes for skipping an update last week - our internet cut out for five days with the company not really wanting to do anything about it. But I'm back now with another chapter! These are some of the scenes I enjoyed writing the most, so hopefully you'll enjoy reading them equally well. :)

“I can’t do this!” Suri huffed.

“It’s not so bad,” the Doctor tried to calm her.

“Oh, it’s easy for you to say! You can just up and go whenever you feel like it. You’re a Wanderer,” she seemed to spit the word, “you do not belong here!”

The Doctor let his outstretched arm fall without touching her shoulders. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned his back on her and walked to the far wall, the one that was in shadow. Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms and stayed silent.

Suri paced back and forth, muttering to herself, rage over their situation boiling in her blood, then finally walked up to the Doctor.

“This is all your fault!” she jabbed a finger into his chest for emphasis. He only cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Well it is! I wouldn’t be stuck inside a room without an escape plan if it weren’t for you!”

“No, you would be lying dead on the floor of Ward 909 with a warlock cleaning up the mess you made!”

“Mess?! MESS?! I was trying to help people there. Could have done it too if I wouldn’t have wanted to check on you too! Lost me precious minutes, that has! The crowd was on my side, I could have turned them!”

She was shouting, spit flying everywhere, almost frothing at the mouth and the objective part of her brain knew something was very wrong. The other part, the more dominant part however wasn’t convinced she should stop.

“You, _Doctor_ ,” her tone got mocking and disgusted at the mention of his title, “what are you a doctor of? Do you heal anything? As far as I can tell all you bring is destruction. You didn’t do me any favours! I could be out there with the Sisterhood, running back to our Temple, to safety! Instead I’m here, stuck with you!”

A large spurt of blood gushed out from her nose and now she was certain that something was terribly wrong, but still she kept going. The Doctor perked up and seemed to realize she wasn’t entirely herself because he started circling around her, coming closer very slowly, as if approaching a wild animal.

“And would you bloody stop that?! There is nothing wrong with me! Nothing… There is nothing…” Her breath came out in shallow gasps and the world was spinning.

The Doctor caught her once again, just in time before she hit the floor, hushing her and offering some water. Where he got it from, she didn’t know, but she was grateful for it nonetheless. Taking large gulps of the liquid, she slowly calmed down enough to breathe normally.

The Doctor was stroking her back slowly and rocking her gently back and forth and she really wanted to tell him to just stop it, she wasn’t a baby, she didn’t need to be coddled and who did he think he was to just come and hug her, all uninvited? But her eyelids felt very heavy suddenly, there was cold sweat breaking out all over her body and she could do little else than let the Doctor’s words lull her to sleep. He was speaking in a strange language, something Suri had never heard before, yet the words were as familiar as her own, even if she couldn’t understand them. She tried to figure out where she knew them from, but the darkness claimed her too soon.

 

*********

 

“Shhh…” Jack put his index finger on her lips and grinned at her. Rose couldn’t help but grin back. Shut in a tiny storage room (well, really it was a cupboard by all definitions, except that it was made up entirely of precious gemstones); the two of them were busy trying to stay quiet and evade the guards.

“I think they’re called Warlocks,” whispered Rose, amusement still evident in her voice.

“Yeah, I think that was what Blackbeard over there was yelling.”

Rose couldn’t help the giggle that escaped, and Jack had to cover her mouth with his hand to keep them from being discovered.

He was happy to see her smiling again. The thrill of the escape, the running, the discovery of new places, the rush of the adventure - it was the best cure for heartache. The best distraction. Jack knew this just as well as the Doctor, and he wasn’t disappointed when he saw the excited glimmer in Rose’s eyes appear at the exact moment they started running. Five minutes after they got out of the room and decided which way to go, the guards came after them. They didn’t have time to hesitate or decide which way to run; they just took off hand-in-hand, barely looking where they were going.

It was all thanks to Jack that they didn’t get caught already. Just when both of them were running out of breath, he spotted the little alcove. They had just enough time to duck under it before the Warlocks swarmed into the hallway. The guards either weren’t very smart, or the storage room was special in some way because they didn’t even think about checking for the escaped prisoners there.

“So, the fairy tales haven’t changed that much in the 51st century, I guess?” Rose mused.

Jack cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Well, you clearly know who Blackbeard is…”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure you do too, Rosie.”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow questioningly at him.

“What do you know about Blackbeard then?” she asked.

“He was a mayor of this town called Cruiseville. He loved gambling and had eight wives at the same time. He was a chronic drinker and used to entertain his friends by chopping up his servants into pieces. He had a beard that was said to be black from all the dried blood of his victims. At the same time he was painfully slow when it came to mental exertion and couldn’t count to ten by himself. So, brainless brute stereotype, really. Wasn’t much of a fairy-tale. Moby Dick was way better, if you ask me.”

“Right, was that a star-whale then that ate a time-travelling alien and his blond companion?” Rose snorted.

“Actually, the companion was ginger, but you’ve gotta ask the Doc about what he was doing in a mammal’s stomach.”

Rose tried to stifle her laughter, but it was too late. One of the Warlocks heard them and turned around, pointing his staff at her. Jack bolted, not leaving the guards enough time to fire their weapon. They were around the corner by the time the first bolts of lightning reached the alcove. Running at breakneck pace, Jack hooted with laughter, teasing the Warlocks behind them while Rose shook her head.

“Show off,” she muttered.

“Hey, if you want to go all serious-like, you have to ask the Doctor for a dance.”

Rose swatted his arm and grinned. The chase was on. It was a good thing - it meant she didn’t have to think for the moment. Didn’t have to worry about the Doctor, about how they were going to get out, or whether her newfound reliance on Jack would irk the Doctor when they reunited. Jack was a friend, surely they both understood that. Or did they?

Brushing those thought aside, Rose concentrated on the man running in front of her. He was certainly a catch, if she would have been so inclined. Only she wasn’t. Their first meeting unsettled her a bit, true. And Jack certainly was very charming when he wanted to be. But if Rose was entirely honest with herself, she did the whole thing - the flirting, the teasing, the showing her trust more than she felt it - because she wanted to make the Doctor just a little bit jealous. It never seemed to work before, but something was different about Jack. He wasn’t just a pretty boy; he could stand his ground against even the Doctor’s worst enemies. And that certainly annoyed the Doctor, whether he’d admit it aloud or not. And then there was the dancing. Those sweet few minutes in the console room were etched onto Rose’s heart. It probably didn’t mean anything to him though. Stupid little ape she was for thinking she might count.

Sighing, she increased her pace to catch up to Jack and toppled them both over when the Time Agent stopped suddenly. With a loud scream, they both fell face-first into a seemingly endless pit. Dazzling colours swirled all around them: ruby and sapphire, emerald and citrine, garnet, obsidian, malachite, tiger’s eye… Rose closed her eyes and hung onto Jack for dear life, who seemed to be laughing for some reason.

“Are you mad?” she shouted.

“Open your eyes Rose,” the laughter was still evident in his voice.

“I can’t!”

“Sure you can.” He peeled her fingers off his coat gently and touched their foreheads together.

“Look into my eyes.”

Honey-brown met blue as Rose tentatively opened her eyes and the world seemed to stop for a second. It wasn’t the endless ocean she always saw when she looked at the Doctor. It was the lightness of the sky, the clouds that skim overhead, the wind that sweeps you off and puts you down somewhere else. And she had to smile. A carefree laugh followed. Gripping Jack’s hands tightly in her own, she realized she was going to be just fine. He spoke the truth when he said he wouldn’t leave, but it took Rose a while to give herself permission to believe it.

“See? Not so hard,” Jack grinned back at her.

She shook her head and gave him a tongue touched smile.

“No, I suppose not.”

Their descent from that moment was slow and steady. Rose didn’t understand why or indeed how they stopped falling, but right at that moment she didn’t care.

Their feet touched the ground at last and she managed to stay standing despite her legs feeling like jelly.

“Well, that was fun,” she exclaimed somewhat breathlessly.

Jack just stared at her with an expression on his face that Rose never saw before. She started fidgeting when he refused to look away.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he smiled.

“What?”

“I just…” he ran a hand through his hair, than took Rose’s arm. “Do you know how magnificent you are, Rose? Because sometimes I think you don’t.”

She blushed and looked away.

“Jack, I don’t…”

“No, listen to me. I know you chose the Doctor; I’m not blind, for all I pretend to be. I can see what you two can’t. Not exactly happy about being a third-wheel,” he laughed at himself quietly, “I’d much prefer to be a third participant.” He winked at Rose. “But I’m not stupid. I know this,” he motioned vaguely between the two of them, “will never work. And I accepted it. But being my friend means I’m going to tell you these things. I might tease you about not letting me get in bed with you two lovebirds,” Rose grinned and rolled her eyes, “but I’m also going to be there for you. The both of you.”

She nodded gratefully and buried her face in his chest. He let her stay there for a while, but eventually disentangled himself from her embrace, holding out his hand for her to take it. When she did he grinned at her and pointed towards the ceiling. Or lack thereof.

“Well, we aren’t getting out through there, so I suppose we just have to try and find another exit. Which way?”

He turned them in a circle - everywhere Rose looked all she could see was purple gemstones covering every inch of the walls of the chamber.

“Amethysts…” she breathed.

“Yup. Certainly looks like they are. We would be rich with just half of those stones in 21st century Earth.”

“Tsk, tsk, Captain. Always thinking about the profit.”

“Well, no harm done in gaining something out of it! Besides, it’s hardly a practical solution: we can’t carry any of the stones with us.” He sighed dramatically. “I guess I’m just going to have to sell you on the slave market.”

Rose squealed as Jack picked her up and ran towards a tunnel to their left. “Oi, put me down!” she laughed.

“No, I better carry you. For all I know you’ll break your ankle down here and then I’ll only get half price for you.”

Rose shook her head and let herself relax in the Captain’s arms. He walked on in silence for a while, seemingly not perturbed by her added weight. It was Rose who spoke up first.

“Do you think he’s alright?”

“The Doc? He’s fine, Rosie. Whatever trouble he gets into, he can always get out of.”

Rose snorted.

“Didn’t work so well with the Nestene Consciousness.”

“I didn’t say he gets out of trouble without help. But help has a way of always finding him at the right moment. He’s very good at finding companions, you have to give him that.”

Jack flashed her another grin and she shook her head. Then a shadow crossed her face and she seemed lost in thought for a few minutes. Finally, she looked up and asked, “Did he tell you anything about the people he travelled with before?”

Jack looked down at her in surprise, drawing her a bit nearer to himself. Rose thought he really ought to put her down and preserve his strength, in case they needed to make a sudden escape. She knew he’d never agree if she called him out on needing rest though.

“No, we never talked about previous companions. Why?”

“Don’t know. I just realized I never asked him. I wonder what they’ve been like. The Doctor told me I’m the most jeopardy friendly yet.” She giggled.

“I don’t need to know about his other companions to attest to that!” countered Jack.

“Hey! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself! And you really can’t blame me for caring about people.”

“No, I can’t,” that strange look was back in his eyes. “That’s one of the things I like the most about you,” he added and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She sighed happily and rested her head on his shoulders. Before long she fell asleep without meaning to, the gentle rhythm of the Captain’s footsteps and his heartbeat under her hand lulling her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and sticking with my not-so-regular updates (although I'm trying to remedy that). Kudos and comments make my world go round, so please consider leaving one if you liked this story.


	10. Wake Up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, look - I made the update day! *proud of self* This is a chapter that's all about details and character backgrounds. We're going to learn more about Suri and a bit about Rose's domestic side on the Tardis.

“Rose! Rose, wake up!”

She opened her eyes groggily, about to ask the Doctor why the hell was he in her room when she realized it was Jack’s voice. The hard rock under her back did not resemble her bed on the Tardis either. Shivering a little from the damp, cold air of the cave, she sat up.

“What is it?”

“Are you okay? You’ve been asleep for quite a while now.” Jack’s eyes were full of concern and she had to smile over how daft both of her friends could be when it came to her wellbeing.

“I’m okay. Just a bit tired is all. Not over the poising properly yet, I guess.” She shrugged and realized her mistake as Jack’s eyes became stormy.

“Look, I’m fine,” she hurried on. “Where are we?”

She stood up so fast she got dizzy and had to clutch at the wall to steady herself. As a result she cut her hand quite deeply on the sharp edges of the crystals lining the wall. Hissing, she jumped up and down for a minute, then smacked Jack when he started laughing.

“I didn’t say I was awake yet. I only said I was fine otherwise.”

“Not a morning person then, eh, Rosie? Funny, you don’t seem to have any problems when we’re on the Tardis.”

Rose shook her head and smiled mysteriously, walking away from Jack and down towards the faint light shimmering at the end of the path. She wasn’t about to tell him that the Tardis did her a favour most of the time and woke her up at least an hour before the Doctor came and pounded on her door to get up because he had something _fantastic_ to show her. Or that she quite often spent an hour and a half in the bath, reading and playing with the bubbles on their rare days off and her good mood when she entered the console room was the result of her spending a couple of hours waking up before she attempted human communication. That, and the Doctor’s bright smile as she stepped into the room. Well, the Doctor’s bright smile always had the strange effect of waking her up fully before she even realized she opened her eyes.

“Aren’t you coming?” she called back to Jack when she realized that he was still standing rooted to the same spot.

“Well, do you even know where you’re going?” he challenged, crossing his arms and taking on that cocky expression the Doctor hated so much.

“Do I need to?” she asked with her tongue skimming over her teeth in a quick motion.

“It might interest you to know that we are about five hours’ distance from the spot we arrived to, and that the path has been slowly but steadily descending, taking us deeper into the belly of the Palace. Or wherever we are. I’m not even sure we’re still in the Palace to be entirely honest. This could be a power house of crystals underneath. Or these might have been escape routes for those pour souls that the Council deemed worthy of a prison sentence.”

“Like us,” Rose added.

“Like us,” he nodded.

“Well, only one way to find out what is in the next cave.”

A slow smile spread over Jack’s face and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins, his heart beat increasing until he could feel it in his throat, his eyes lighting up as Rose grinned back at him. Hand in hand, they ran.

 

**********

“It’s alright, don’t try to get up.”

Suri groaned and turned her head away from the intrusive voice.

“What? Who? Where?” her throat felt like sandpaper and she was grateful when a glass touched her lips and water trickled into her mouth.

She opened her eyes in alarm a moment later, reaching for her pesh-kabz only to find it wasn’t there. She was about to slap the man crouching beside her, but he caught her arms and smiled encouragingly.

“I checked the water with the sonic. It’s not poisoned or anythin’. Has lots of minerals too. Must come from an underwater lake. In any case, it’s safe to drink.”

Suri nodded tiredly - her head felt heavy and a dull ache was developing behind her right eye. She drank as the Doctor watched her carefully. When she was finished she handed the cup back to him, but he didn’t take it. Instead he fixed his sharp gaze on her face and asked, “So how long have you been wearing the patches?”

“What patches?”

Her fingers twitched, but her face remained motionless.

The Doctor shook his head, “Come on Suri. No use in lyin’. You’ve been usin’ the mood patches for ages, I expect hiding it from that Sisterhood of yours, but you ran out. Was that what your little excursion in the hospital was about? To get a fix?”

Suri lowered her eyes mid-sentence and tried to keep still, but her refusal to meet his gaze told the Doctor all he needed to know.

“I’m not judging. There’s certainly enough on this planet to want to escape from. But you don’t seem the type to do it for fun. Which one did you get addicted to?”

She remained stubborn and silent for a few minutes, but the Doctor didn’t let up. Staring at her in silence, he waited until she was ready.

“Power surge.”

“What?”

“That’s the name of the patch. I don’t know what ones they have where you come from, but it’s a fairly new one around here. It keeps you from getting tired - you can go without sleep for a week or more. You don’t get lightheaded if you don’t eat. It’s… it’s great.”

The Doctor sighed and held out his hand to her.

Suri got to her feet shaking from head to foot, and promptly threw up on the Doctor’s shoes. He had the decency to hold up her hair and hand her another glass of water when she was finished.

“It doesn’t seem so great to me,” he added in an undertone and Suri opened her mouth to argue, but a sudden spell of dizziness caused her to collapse into the Doctor’s arms instead.

“Funny how people do this a lot around me. Although most people’s reasons tend to be better than being breathless because they just snogged a giant slug for the last fifteen minutes.”

At Suri’s incredulous look, the Doctor grinned and added, “I have this companion. Jack Harkness, he’s called. He likes to think he’s a Captain,” he scoffed.

“And this Captain snogs giant slugs on a regular basis, does he?”

“Oi! He is not a Captain; he just likes to think he is. Impress people with the title…” The Doctor frowned. “But yes, he has the habit of snogging everything that moves, breathes and has the inclination to kiss back.”

Suri smiled a little and shook her head.

“You could put me down you know. I might not be able to stand on my own two feet at the moment, but there’s no need for you to stand in the middle of the room, holding me up.”

“Right. Sorry.”

The Doctor guided her to one of the larger crates at the far side of the room and she lay down with a groan.

“So, this power surge patch. How long have you been using it?”

“You said you won’t judge,” she said weakly.

“I won’t. I just want to know how long you’ll be out cold before we can form an escape plan. You’re not that heavy, but I’d rather not carry you out unless I have to. Not having two hands during a breakout is bad enough, but not havin’ even one makes things rather more difficult than necessary.”

Suri swallowed hard, her pixie-like nose scrunched up and admitted in a very small voice, “Since I was five.”

The Doctor’s barely audible ‘oh’ didn’t encourage her too much.

“And how old are you now?”

“I’m nineteen.”

He whistled and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair.

“Well, Suri, we’re gonna be here for a while.”

She sighed and closed her eyes in defeat. She always knew she’d have to face the consequences of using the patch so much, she just didn’t count on doing it in the middle of an escape.

“What… What will happen to me?”

It was the first time she’d shown any kind of fear and the Doctor’s hearts warmed a bit. Silly little apes (quite in the literal sense, for she was from a hybrid race of monkeys, fruit-people and highly evolved humanoid robots from the 75th century). He shook his head and gave her one of his true smiles, the one that lit up his whole face and made his eyes look as bright as the stars where he came from. It was usually reserved for Rose only, but he didn’t see any harm in trying to cheer his newfound friend up with it if he could.

“It’s not as bad as it seems, really,” he said innocently.

“Yeah? Well, how bad is it, exactly?”  
“Oh, you’ll most likely keep vomitin’ for the next few hours, you’ll probably be quite dizzy, have stomach cramps, shortness of breath and extreme muscle fatigue. Also cold sweat and probably a high fever. Itchy skin. Burning eyes. All in all, not the end of the world.” His manic smile was still in place when Suri looked up at him with round, horrified eyes.

She laid her head back down and groaned. This was going to be a long couple of hours.

“It’ll probably last for a couple of days. Five at most.”

Suri groaned louder.

“I’ll go and see if there’s any food in one of those creates. I’ve got a banana, but that’s hardly enough for both of us. In any case you can’t eat for a while yet. But better get ready to camp out here for a bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments and kudos make my world go round and keep me writing, so please leave one if you liked the fic.


	11. The Tolling of the Bell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologizes for skipping an update last week. It seems like keeping a schedule is proving to be harder than I thought. The good news is that there's a new chapter this week - one of my favourites actually. The bad news is that there probably won't be an update in the next few weeks. It's exam time where I live and studying has to take first priority. I'm not abandoning the story, never fear! But I do have to go on a bit of hiatus with it until my exams are done. Thank you for your patience and I hope you'll enjoy the latest installment.

“What do you think it is?” Rose breathed, her eyes reflecting the sharp light emitted by the object she held in her hands.

“Well, to me it looks like a rose,” Jack replied nonchalantly. The effect the flower had on his friend was quite strange. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she’d been hypnotized. Did he actually know better though?

Rose rolled her eyes and put the flower back gently into its holder.

“I can see that! I meant what do you think it’s for?”

Jack shrugged and stepped closer to the strange sculpture that was holding the rose. The craftsmanship on the flower itself was quite astonishing. The petals were paper thin and made up entirely of gemstones. Rubies, garnets, quartz crystal, beryl, chalcedony, spinel, tourmaline… When Jack told Rose as much she cocked an eyebrow and remarked that the Time Agent forgot to tell her he was practiced in witchcraft.

“I’m not Rose! I only know because the Doctor upgraded my Vortex Manipulator and now it can do scans for alien tech. Besides, these are precious stones. Doesn’t hurt to know a bit about things that are worth an awful lot of money.”

“Right. The ‘Captain’ part of your name comes from having pirates for parents then?” she teased.

Rose shook her head and tried to keep the joyful smirk off her face when she realized the Doctor was quite possibly following her previous request for a bit more ‘Spock’ by upgrading equipment. Then the full meaning of Jack’s words hit her.

“Wait. What do you mean alien tech? These are just gemstones, aren’t they? They aren’t alien. I mean… I guess if you consider it from the natives’ point of view they could be. But…”

“No, you’re right,” Jack was still fidgeting with his Vortex Manipulator, “these are not supposed to be alien. But I’m picking up very strange readings. High levels of artron and chronon. And the Silverberg is off the charts.”

“And what does that mean?” Rose gave him her best clueless look to illustrate just what she thought of the techno-babble.

“I don’t know. We’d need the Doc to tell us exactly what’s going on, but these are no ordinary gemstones, Rose. Or if they ever were, they’ve been transformed into something very different.”

“By whom?”

“Good question. An even better one would be: why?”

“Don’t you think we should leave?” asked Rose when he walked up to the sculpture formation and began to examine it.

“Oh, we absolutely should. And that’s why we’re sticking around,” he grinned at her.

“You’re just like the Doctor!” laughed Rose.

“So, any ideas about what the sculptor wanted to tell us?”

“Hm… The girl loved the man who’s clutching at her legs, but she was forced to be with the other one who’s whispering into her ear. He threatened to kill her true love unless she marries him. Her true love can’t bear the thought of losing her, so he begs her to do something - anything - but marry the tyrant. She is a fairy, so her only choice left is to turn all three of them into stone, stopping time. The rose is there so that when the right person finds this sculpture, they’ll know what to do and how to break the curse.”  
Jack whistled.

“That is a neat story, I have to admit. Not very likely though.”

Rose pouted.

“You are just as bad as the Doctor!”

“Oi! I’m trying to be two people at the same time Rosie, give me a little credit here!”

Rose’s smile faded and she walked over to Jack who enveloped her in an embrace.

“I know you miss the Doctor, sweetheart, I do too. We just got to get out of here and then we’ll see him again. Alright?”

She nodded and hugged him tighter. They stood in the faint glow of the flower in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

“How did you know?” Rose asked suddenly.

“Know what?”

“That the Doctor can be comforting too.”

“Oh….” He trailed off.

Releasing Rose, he sat down heavily at the foot of the sculpture. He ran a finger through his hair and sighed, opening his mouth several times before finally being able to say something.

“You know how I told you that the Agency stole two years of my memories?”

“Yeah, I remember. We were on that Chula ship you stole…”

“Borrowed,” Jack corrected her automatically. He was too lost in thought to notice Rose’s smile.

“Borrowed. When you told us you weren’t doing the whole conning thing just for the money. I understand leaving the Agency, but I still don’t get how the cons were supposed to help.”

“Well, Time Agents can be found pretty much everywhere. Remember those spy movies you showed me? What was it?”

“James Bond?”

“Yeah! Those. Well, being a Time Agent is a little like being a spy.” Normally Rose would have interrupted and accused Jack of boasting, but she sensed that the topic was too serious to make fun of. “You never know exactly who you are dealing with. It can be extremely dangerous even when you do, but when you’re only guessing who the other party might be, it’s deadly. Two years of my memories are gone, Rose. Just disappeared. I don’t know who I met in that fourteen months, I don’t know what I did and I have no idea of the friends and enemies I’ve gained. Being a conman, drawing people into different timelines, to different corners of the universe… I’m doing it because I’m hoping I can find answers along the way. That I can find people who’ll provide answers, who’ll jog my memory, who I can provoke into telling me the truth.”

His voice was becoming more and more distressed with each sentence and all Rose wanted to do was to hug him. Something stopped her.

“I realize I’m exposing myself too,” he laughed bitterly. “If I meet an enemy, they’re free to kill me as they please and I might never even know they wish me ill before I am already dead.” He shook his head and looked into Rose’s eyes finally. Seeing the distress there, he opened his arms, inviting her in.

“Hey. I’m not gone just yet. Besides, if your good Doctor doesn’t throw me out than it won’t be an issue for a while yet.”

Rose smacked his arm. “He’s not _my_ Doctor, Jack. Besides, he won’t throw you out because I won’t let him! You’ll never have to get back to being a conman ever again.”

The determination and assurance in her eyes warmed his heart. Even if he did nothing horrible during the two years he couldn’t remember, he was quite sure he didn’t deserve Rose.

“He is your Doctor, believe me Rosie… And he couldn’t have picked better.”

Rose blushed and turned her head away, leaning away from his embrace a little.

Jack cleared his throat and patted the knee of the stone man who was clutching at the woman’s feet. Rose sat down onto it and lifted her eyes to his, listening intently.

“I didn’t answer your question though. About how I know the Doctor can be comforting too.” He paused again, seemingly gathering his thoughts and Rose watched as lines that weren’t on his face before suddenly appeared, his forehead creasing and his jaw clenched. Whatever he was going to tell her wasn’t easy. He seemed to be battling with himself. She reached out and took his hand.

“You know you can trust me.”

He smiled apologetically.

“I know Rose. I know.”

Staring into the distance again, he started massaging her palm, his mind clearly elsewhere.

“Remember when you spent the night at Jackie’s last time?”

“And she invited you up for tea.”

“Yeah, she did.”

Both of them laughed as they remembered the blatant flirting and the rum that got mixed into the tea. Rose was trying to avoid getting drunk, lest she starts blubbering about the Doctor and says too much, but neither Jackie nor the Captain were that careful.

Jackie ended up sliding from the sofa to the floor in a dishevelled heap as her laughter died down and she started snoring. The Captain was in a slightly better shape, thanks to his more generous drinking habits, no doubt.

 

 “ _I’m used to hypervodka, Rosie, this is nothin’.”_

_“Right, that’s why you suddenly have a northern accent, is it?”_

_“What? I do not. That’s not… Do you think it will annoy the Doctor? I bet it will!”_

_He emitted a giggle and Rose had to hold in her laughter as she tried to steer him towards the Tardis. The Doctor was luckily nowhere to be seen when they entered. Jack chose that moment to start singing and Rose cursed loudly._

_She didn’t want to draw attention to their entrance - the Doctor thought it was a bit too domestic anyway that she spent the whole weekend at her mom’s. She didn’t need him to think Jack getting drunk would be a part of their Sunday ritual too. He was fairly good-humoured about the flirting when Jack was kept in line, but no telling how he’d take a drunk Time Agent wanting to get it on with him. The ship was in a helpful mood, thankfully, and put Jack’s room right next to the console room._

“Yeah, I remember. You were totally wasted. I had to put you to bed and you told me…”  
“Told you that you should come and help me get changed,” grinned Jack.

“And then you asked me whether I was your mommy.”

They burst out laughing once again, overtaken by the memory.

The Doctor turned up the next morning and only sneered slightly as Jack grumbled about his head. He had to good grace to stage whisper to Rose that they aren’t letting the cat out of the house any time soon. Jack would have started arguing (or coming up with innuendo fuelled by being called a cat), but his head was really hurting too much to do anything but groan pitifully.

“So… How does you getting drunk relate to the Doctor’s skills in comforting people?”

“Well, it doesn’t. Not really. But… That night… after we came back to the Tardis…”  
“You better not tell me you two had sex because I won’t believe you!” Rose’s voice rose to a higher pitch and she pointed her index finger at him accusingly.

“Jealous, are we, Rosie?” he grinned. “I wish! No, but he did come into my room later.”

Rose lifted an eyebrow and waited for him to continue, obviously not believing him just yet.

“I was… I do have certain dreams. Well, nightmares,” he scoffed.

She reached for his hand again and shuffled closer, leaning into his side softly.

“They don’t come usually when we had a long day and I’m exhausted or when we relax and fall asleep on the couch in the media room.” (Of which they were both guilty on more than one occasion.)

“But on nights when I’m restless, when we’re just drifting, when I don’t have anything to do…” he swallowed hard and looked at their intertwined fingers. He seemed to gain strength from it.

“I told you I don’t remember what happened in the two years that the Agency stole from me. And I don’t. But when I dream… Sometimes in dreams the memories seem to surface. Not enough for me to understand them, or even to retain them later, but they do return for a bit.”

His eyes grew distant and a bit glassy - something Rose had only seen with the Doctor, when he was talking about his past.

“I always wake up screaming. And I never know what about when someone asks me. I can’t even remember what I can’t remember.” His eyes shined ominously and Rose realized he was just about to cry. She took her hand away from his and embraced him instead, running her hands up and down his back. He was shivering slightly, even though he still had his military coat on him.

“That night… it was different,” he whispered. “I woke up screaming alright. But I also recalled flashes of the memories. Scenes of a war. Of bloodshed like I’ve never seen before. Of children screaming. Everyone running. Chaos. Total war.”

His voice trailed off, too raw to continue.

“The Doctor… um… he came into the room. Well, kicked down the door. He ran to me and took one look at my face before he was cradling me in his arms, whispering soothing words in a strange language I didn’t understand. He must have held me for a good half an hour before I drew back and stared at him, astonished. I whispered a thank you and he nodded. He stood up and I thought he was about to leave, but instead he took off his jacket and sat on the bed until I started to talk.”

Jack swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair, squeezing Rose’s fingers with the other.

“He didn’t try to comfort me, he just listened. You know he has that look: that really intense one where his eyes seem to glow and you swear he can see right through you, right into the deepest part of your soul and somehow you don’t even mind because you just know… you just know deep down that he won’t judge.”

Rose smiled and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to overflow at any moment.

“Yeah, I know exactly which look you’re talking about.”

“I must have talked for hours. But he never said one word. Never interrupted. Just let me finish and never took his eyes off my face. Then he got up, asked me if I wanted some tea and when I said no he nodded, pulled up a chair and told me to go back to sleep. He was gone in the morning and acted like nothing happened, but I know - Rose, I just know - that he was sitting there all night, watching over me until right before I woke up.”

Rose didn’t look at him, but the look on her face told Jack she never doubted it.

“That just what he does,” she said quietly, squeezing his hand. “No fuss. No big words. No grand demonstrations of emotion. No expectations for thanks. He just comes in, fixes things, then leaves. You know him, Jack. That’s what he does for everyone else. Why wouldn’t he do it for us?”

“Yeah…” he still seemed lost in thought and she didn’t want to interrupt him, but her stomach was growling and she knew they had to get out of the caves soon if they wanted to survive. They had a bit of water in one of Jack’s flasks, but they haven’t eaten anything since they escaped their room, and that must have been well over a day ago.

“Jack.”

“Hmm?”

“We need to go.”

“Of course.”

He jumped up, stretched and smiled at her. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“What about the rose?”

“I think we should take it. Never know when it might come in handy. Could be an old relic they’ve searched for for millennia. We might get knighted!” He was almost back to his usual self and Rose couldn’t help but smile brightly at the sudden change. Trust Jack to get a mission and cheer up! She shook her head.

“A rose for a Rose?” he bowed theatrically and offered her the crystal flower.

“Why thank you!” she curtsied and pretended to smell it.

Taking his hand, she walked towards the path opposite to where they came in.

“This seems to be leading towards the surface. Smell the air, it’s fresher.”

“Oh. Didn’t know you had a nose for that type of thing!” exclaimed Jack.

“I’m not useless, you know!”

“No one said you were. In fact, I think you’re fantastic.”

He winked at her and they took off at a run, their laughter echoing in the chamber behind them. The sculpture in the middle remained motionless, despite Rose’s quip about the curse being broken with the flower. Golden tears seemed to trickle slowly down the woman’s cheek. The man at her feet bled from his left palm - the drops of blood turned to rubies as soon as they touched the floor. The other man’s chest seemed to glow with a faint orange light and as Jack and Rose’s footsteps faded, heat started to blossom from his ribs. The faces of the three figures changed from motionless stone-sadness to something else. Something entirely more alive.

 

***********

 

“Mother! Mother! It’s happening! It’s here! Finally, the stone is moving!” a girl wearing a kingfisher blue dress ran towards the Sacred Chamber.

“Hush Clara, I’m thinking.”

The girl stopped and looked down at her feet, trying to keep quiet. She stole quick glances at the other woman - she was sitting on her knees on the floor, swirling green and golden liquid in a silver bowl. She was older than her by a number of years, but it wasn’t her age that allowed her the title of ‘Mother’. She was the first one to be brought to the Temple thirty years ago - the first Sister to be found since the great Cleansing. She had visions and dreams from a very early age. Of a Blue Goddess and the Storm that it will bring. No one understood them, but they were made into prophecies.

Clara often thought about the absurdity of taking the word of a child (for the Mother was only a child when she arrived here) and basing their whole future on it. But the words of the Sisters were sacred. Clara learned that the hard way when people started to come to her for advice and she couldn’t give it. When her words became twisted in other people’s mouth. When her hands clutched at freedom, but found none.

Hopping from foot to foot, she tried to keep still, but found her heart was pounding too loudly and her breath was quivering too much in her chest to be able to achieve peace. The other woman sighed and stopped swirling the shining liquid. Standing up slowly, she fixed her with a reprimanding look that turned into a smile as Clara threw herself into her arms.

“What is it then? Can’t you wait for a few minutes until people finish what they’re doing?” she chided.

Clara grinned back and shook her head.

“It’s happening, Donna! It really is. This time I’m not mistaken. The tears started to flow on her face.”

The other woman’s eyes widened and she took Clara’s face gently into her hands, putting a finger on her temple. “Indeed. The blood is flowing, the fire is kindling, the tears are being born. It’s time.”

They walked together to the giant bell that lay at the far end of the chamber and grasped the rope tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments make my world go round, so please leave one if you like this story. Thank you, you're a star for reading!


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